MEDIA ADVISORY: Corporate Ecosystem Valuation Event at World Resources Institute

Business and NGO Leaders Discuss How to Integrate Ecosystem Valuation into Planning and Financial Analysis

Business and environmental leaders are participating in an event at the World Resources Institute to discuss the new Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation (CEV) and how businesses can incorporate ecosystem valuation into their planning and financial analysis. The event is being hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Tuesday, May 3 from 10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Speakers include representatives from Goldman Sachs, Holcim, and Weyerhaeuser, along with leading NGOs, and more.

Ecosystem goods and services – like freshwater, fiber, food, flood control, water purification and waste treatment – enable business and society to function and therefore it will be imperative that business understands how it impacts and depends on its ecosystems.

That’s why the WBCSD created the first-of-its-kind Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation (CEV), a framework that allows business to recognize the actual benefits and value of ecosystem services, giving them new information and insights to include in business planning and financial analysis.

The event is open to media and other interested parties– full agenda below

WHO
Representatives from Goldman Sachs, Holcim, and Weyerhauser

Representatives from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and more

WHAT
Event on the Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation

WHERE
World Resources Institute, 10 G St NE, Washington D.C., 8th Floor, Main Conference Room

WHEN
Tuesday, May 3, 2011

TIME
10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

AGENDA
Moderation by Janet Ranganathan (WRI), Suzanne Ozment (WRI) and Mary Beth West (IUCN)

Introduction and Welcome
Janet Ranganathan, WRI

The Wall Street Perspective
Kuyung-Ah Park, Goldman Sachs

CEV Overview
James Griffiths, WBCSD

Corporate Ecosystem Valuation Road-Tester Panel
Kieran Sikdar, US Business Council for Sustainable Development, Erika Guerra, Holcim, and Jody Strickland, Weyerhaeuser

The Dow Chemical Company and The Nature Conservancy Valuing Nature Collaboration
Mark Weick, Dow, and Michelle Lapinski, TNC

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For more information, please contact:

Michael Oko, Director, Media Relations, World Resources Institute, moko@wri.org, (202) 729-7684

Peter Paul van de Wijs, Managing Director, Communications, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, vandewijs@wbcsd.org, +41 22 839 3141

Nicki Chadwick, Media Relations Officer, International Union for Conservation of Nature, nicki.chadwick@iucn.org, +41 22 999 0229