Natural-resource based businesses should share benefits with all stakeholders. Water and biodiversity play a significant role in sustaining human life
and ensuring welfare. They are essential for securing food, medicines,
energy and building materials.Water and biodiversity are mutually dependent; one cannot be sustained
without the other. Any impact on the water sector will affect
biodiversity and vice versa. Biodiversity provides important services
such as natural pest control, water recycling and climate regulation.
Water and biodiversity play a vital role in sustaining and promoting
business. In the manufacture of many products (such as food, medicines,
fertilisers, pesticides, fibres, textiles, cosmetics) bio-resources play
a significant role. Sometimes, water itself is an input in industries
such as textiles, leather, paper and pulp, and sugar.
Impact on business
Every business depends on water and biodiversity, and also impacts on
them. On an average, agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of the water
withdrawals.
After agriculture, the major users of water are industries and energy
(20 per cent of total withdrawal), and the domestic and urban (10 per
cent of total withdrawal) sectors. Industrial water uses include
processing of raw materials, cooling, cleaning, and as central
ingredients in the goods produced. Sometimes water is required to use
industrial products, such as cement. In the domestic sector too, water
plays an important role in businesses such as desalination plants and
packaged water supply.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals and
micro-organisms, and the ecosystems in which they occur, and is
inherently valuable to humanity. Crops, livestock, forest products and
fish are part of biodiversity and are also sources of food. A wide
variety of plants, animals and fungi are used for manufacturing
medicines and over 60 per cent of the world’s population depends on
plant medicines for their primary health care.
At present, many chemical formulae and about 45 per cent of drugs are
based on biodiversity. According to a study, over 70 per cent of the
promising anti-cancer drugs come from plants in the tropical
rainforests. It is estimated that of the 2,50,000 known plant species,
only 5,000 have been researched for possible medical applications.
Therefore, there is huge scope for identifying more drugs from nature.
Industrial products such as oils, lubricants, perfumes, dyes, paper,
wax, rubber, latex, resins, poisons and cork are derived from various
plant species. Animals origin products include wool, silk, fur, leather,
lubricants and wax. In farming, bio-pest control and application of
bio-fertilisers are environment friendly methods, and are growing
industries.
Nowadays various animals are nurtured privately for display and as pets.
Ornamental fish culture is a booming business. Biodiversity hotspots
(nature reserves, parks and forests with wildlife and plants) are
tourist centres, attracting millions of people. Eco-tourism is a growing
outdoor recreational activity and business.
Emerging Challenges
Population growth and changing life-styles demand more food, energy and
other consumer products that encourage mega irrigation, hydropower
projects and industrial establishments.
Urban growth and industrial development have pushed cities to look
increasingly farther for water and other resources they need. The
modifications to water-related development (dams, irrigation schemes,
urban extension, aquaculture) are at the cost of biodiversity.
According to a recent study, the biodiversity (number of species) in
freshwater has declined by half since 1970. For developmental
activities, biodiversity hotspots such as forests, wetlands, mangroves
and coral reefs have been considerably encroached upon.
Further, the pollution load discharged into the ecosystem has also
multiplied, and in certain locations is beyond nature’s carrying
capacity. Ecosystem change has accelerated in many areas vulnerable to
water-related activities. Further, climate change factors are
significantly influenced by water availability and the health of the
biodiversity.
The huge business potential of water and biodiversity naturally leads to
their market possibilities. About 13 per cent (884 million) of the
world’s population still relies on impoverished sources for drinking
water, and 2.4 billion people are still without access to basic
sanitation. Therefore, trade-offs among various water users are
important.
Management Strategies
The future of business depends on the sustainability of water and
bio-resources. Globally, the per capita availability of freshwater is
steadily decreasing and the trend will continue as the world’s
population grows, emerging economies increase their consumption levels,
and climate change prevails.
For the global economy, if it needs to carry on expanding at the same
pace, the worldwide annual water consumption will rise from 4,500 km{+3}
today to 6,900 km{+3} in 2030, that is 40 per cent more than the
current supply. The same pressure can be anticipated in biological
resources too.
Some steps are proposed for the conservation and sustainable utilisation
of water and biodiversity, from the business perspective.
The “access and benefit sharing” objective of the Convention on
Biological Diversity should be operationalised. This would enable local
communities (who use their traditional knowledge and efforts in managing
water and biodiversity) to obtain a fair and equitable share from the
overall benefits of resources-based businesses.
The benefit-sharing principle will act as an incentive to local
communities for conservation and sustainable use of resources. In this
regard, the industries’ cooperation is essential.
For the conservation and management of water and biodiversity, corporate
responsibility is crucial, along with the role played by government
departments. They can come up with innovative strategies that can be
implemented with stakeholders’ participation to minimise water use,
maximise recycling and sustain natural processes, including the
management of biodiversity and the ecosystem.
Public-private partnership programmes in water supply, sanitation, and
waste-water treatment have ample scope for entrepreneurs to take the
lead with a focus on biodiversity.
Gifts of nature
Decisions on issues such as the conversion of ecologically sensitive
areas for developmental purposes including wetlands and marshes are
often taken considering the benefits of the project rather than the
overall impact on the ecosystem. In this regard, the economic value of
non-marketed goods and services of ecosystem/biodiversity is critical
for effective policy decision-making.
If we follow these ‘Green Business’ principles, our water and
biodiversity will be protected and we can achieve ‘Green Economy’ based
growth in the country.
(The authors are members of the National Biodiversity Authority -NBA)
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