Corporate biodiversity management

Protecting and promoting biodiversity is a core objective in many projects in cooperation countries. But biodiversity also plays an important part at GIZ locations in Germany.

The most important levers for conserving biodiversity at corporate level are corporate environmental management, sustainable procurement and sustainable event management.

Biodiversity in corporate environmental management

Locations themselves can help directly to conserve and promote species diversity. For example, there is an individual biodiversity concept for all GIZ new-builds. This ensures that outside areas and, where appropriate, roofs are planted with native species and that sealed surfaces are kept to a minimum. The efficient use of water, energy and paper and the avoidance of waste and emissions are further fundamental components of the company’s approach to environmental management.

Commitment to biodiversity protection

In 2008, GIZ launched the Biodiversity in Good Company initiative on behalf of what is today the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and coordinated its initial phase. Companies from many different sectors have signed up to the initiative and committed to working together to protect biodiversity and use it sustainably worldwide.

GIZ is also a member of the following bodies:

• German Association of Environmental Management e.V. (B.A.U.M.) (in German)
• International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
• WWF Deutschland (in German)
• International Academy for Nature Conservation Advisory Board
• Society for Tropical Ecology (GTÖ)
• Umweltforum Rhein-Main e.V. (in German)
• BioFrankfurt – Das Netzwerk für Biodiversity e.V. (in German)