Ecosystem Services
Nature at the heart of value creation
Why talk about ecosystem services?
The biodiversity crisis should not obscure a fundamental reality: businesses are directly dependent on nature.
The benefits that ecosystems provide for free—ecosystem services—support the entire global economy. Without them, there would be no freshwater, no raw materials, no soil fertility, no climate regulation, no erosion control, and more.
Four main categories of ecosystem services
There are four families of ecosystem services:
- Provisioning services: material resources directly drawn from ecosystems (water, timber, fibers, food, pharmaceuticals…) that meet our needs: feeding, healing, heating, clothing, sheltering, etc.
- Regulating services: natural functions that stabilize our environments (climate, air and water quality, pollination, flood prevention, erosion control, protection against extreme events). They enable humanity to live in a supportive environment; their degradation creates major challenges for all.
- Cultural services: intangible contributions (landscapes, tourism, inspiration, cultural identity, well-being, biomimicry).
- Supporting services: foundational processes that make all other services possible (nutrient cycles, soil formation, photosynthesis).
Companies and their dependencies on ecosystem services
All organizations, regardless of sector, rely directly or indirectly on these services, including:
- Upstream: access to agricultural, forestry, mineral, or energy raw materials.
- Operations: water availability, natural temperature regulation, soil and air quality.
- Downstream: services of dispersion, dilution, or filtration essential for the end-of-life of many products.
These dependencies create physical risks: water stress, loss of pollinators, climate instability, exposure to floods and submersions, etc.
However, properly accounting for them also creates opportunities: innovation, resilience, differentiation, securing supply chains and production, and more.
From dependency to strategic action
- Identify your key dependencies on ecosystem services across operations and value chains.
- Assess your risks and opportunities using robust methods.
- Integrate ecosystem services into your climate and biodiversity plans to strengthen resilience.
- Develop Nature Positive strategies that reduce negative impacts while protecting the resources you depend on.