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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Companies can exacerbate biodiversity loss - or help to reverse it. The new IPBES report "Business & Biodiversity" shows ways to achieve this transformation. LIB projects show how scientifically sound solutions are already being developed in practice.
On 9 February 2026, the new report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) on "Business & Biodiversity" was published. IPBES is an intergovernmental scientific body that provides policy makers worldwide with sound analyses and recommendations for action on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The report makes it clear that economic activities are closely linked to biodiversity: Companies are both heavily dependent on functioning ecosystems and largely responsible for their change. At the same time, the report identifies structural challenges such as insufficient incentives, data gaps and a lack of standardised methods, which have so far made it difficult to implement biodiversity-friendly strategies on a broader scale.
"The IPBES report shows very clearly that the protection of biodiversity is not a voluntary additional task, but a national and economic necessity," says Prof Dr Bernhard Misof, Director General of the LIB. "This is exactly where our research comes in - together with companies, we develop solutions that are both biologically effective and economically viable."
Practical example from industry: biodiversity management in extraction sites
A key example of this is the GiBBS project carried out by LIB with partners from the building materials industry. The team developed practical, operational and economically viable concepts with which biodiversity can be systematically integrated into the operation of extraction sites. The resulting practical handbook "Biodiversity in Extraction Sites: Management and Monitoring of Biodiversity" is explicitly aimed at companies and shows how biodiversity-promoting measures are compatible with existing production processes. Such practical approaches address key challenges of the IPBES report, in particular the integration of scientific findings into corporate decision-making processes and the closing of existing knowledge and implementation barriers.
"Nature-positive business means understanding biodiversity as part of value creation," explains Prof Dr Christoph Scherber, Deputy Director General of the LIB. "Our projects show that companies are prepared to go down this path if solutions are scientifically sound, practicable and economically viable."
Scientific evidence and innovative monitoring methods
LIB's accompanying research proves that approaches developed together with industry can be both feasible and ecologically effective. Studies with LIB involvement show, for example, that mineral extraction sites can exhibit a high level of plant diversity through targeted management and thus have considerable nature conservation value. Other studies show that heterogeneous aquatic landscapes in extraction areas are important habitats for insects and other arthropods. Modern monitoring approaches such as environmental DNA (eDNA) also enable companies to record biodiversity efficiently and reliably - an aspect that the IPBES report also emphasises as crucial for a better basis for decision-making.
Biodiversity-friendly agriculture as a transformation field
The LIB is also working on solutions in the field of agriculture and crop protection that reduce ecological impacts and at the same time support long-term economic prospects. Current studies clearly show that synthetic pesticides have significant negative effects on non-target organisms. At the same time, high-level publications call for a fundamental paradigm shift in order to better combine food security, environmental protection and health protection. Research also shows that diversified, biodiversity-friendly agricultural systems can combine ecological benefits with social and economic opportunities.
Against this backdrop, the transformation towards nature-positive farming methods is becoming increasingly important. In the NaPA project, researchers with a special focus on agricultural systems are investigating how companies can make a measurable contribution to improving the state of nature along their value chains and what political, economic and social framework conditions are required for this.
Cooperation as the key to a biodiversity-friendly economy
The experiences from the LIB projects thus reflect key messages from the World Biodiversity Council report: the transition to a biodiversity-friendly economy is possible, but requires coordinated efforts from science, business, politics and society. Close cooperation with companies creates approaches that combine scientific evidence with practical feasibility and thus contribute to the necessary transformation.
"We don't need a contradiction between economy and ecology," concludes Prof Scherber. "The scientific results clearly show that biologically compatible solutions can be economically viable. The World Biodiversity Council report provides the global framework - practice shows that implementation is already succeeding today."
Prof. Dr Bernhard Misof
Museum Koenig Bonn
Director General LIB
b.misof@leibniz-lib.de
+49 228 9122 200
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