MEDIA ADVISORY: Ecosystems and the Business Bottom Line: New Thinking on Nature's Assets

Valuing Nature’s Assets: Business Accounts for Fresh Water, Biodiversity, Forests, Coral Reefs and Wetlands for Long-Term Viability and Profit

The earth’s diminishing natural and environmental resources are getting a new look from global business leaders – and not for the sake of philanthropy. Through new analytic approaches and tools that assess and value the fragile ecosystems virtually all businesses depend on, corporate leaders are beginning to understand that natural resources are as important to future profitability as interest rates or capital depreciation schedules.

WHAT: Leaders and experts from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) will participate in a media briefing on “Ecosystems Services” and a new eco-financial analytic discipline that creates tools for businesses to determine the role local habitats and natural resources play in their corporate bottom lines. The briefing will include a presentation of the Corporate Ecosystems Services Review (ESR), launched by WRI and WBCSD as the first tool of its kind that gives business leaders the ability to assess their own ecosystems risks and opportunities. WBCSD’s new Corporate Ecosystem Valuation Initiative (EVI), to help companies account for the benefits provided by ecosystems as well as the potential cost of their loss, will be outlined. Finally, a case study describing BC Hydro’s approach to ecosystems services, assessment and valuation will also be presented.

WHO: Jonathan Lash, President, WRI Bob Elton, President and CEO, BC Hydro Craig Hanson, Director, People and Ecosystems Program, WRI James Griffiths, Managing Director, WBCSD

WHEN: October 13, 2009, 1:00p.m. – 2:00p.m. (lunch will be available at 12:30)

WHERE: The World Resources Institute 10 G Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002 (Metro: Red Line to Union Station)