Nissan Motor Company Ltd. on October 12 announced it has compiled results of the collaborative research on ties between ecosystem / biodiversity conservation and the automotive sector, which it has been conducting since 2007 with the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies. The research is in line with the company's mid-term environmental action plan "Nissan Green Program 2010". The cooperative research report will be posted on the Nissan official website today.
Focusing on the value delivered to society from nature by conserving biodiversity (ecosystem services), this collaborative research is aimed at identifying how much the automotive industry both relies on and is impacted by ecosystem services throughout its value chain. Specifically, assessments were carried out widely across the value chain, including the mining of resources, vehicle production and vehicle usage, utilizing methods based on the "Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR)", which was created by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in cooperation with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and Meridian Institute (MI), a new assessment model based on the United Nations' project, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Significantly, three areas: energy procurement, resources procurement and utilization of water resources, were identified as key areas where automakers should further place emphasis for the conservation of biodiversity.
Biodiversity was positioned as one of the most important environmental issues along with climate change at the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, and various measures have been taken by parties under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Private businesses are expected to be actively engaged in biodiversity conservation, as "Business and biodiversity" will be an agenda item to be discussed at the Aichi-Nagoya COP10 CBD to be held from October 18, 2010. In consideration of business risks and opportunities which were identified through this collaborative research, Nissan will strategically work on challenges, including reduction of oil consumption, shifting to alternative energy sources, reduced output of materials resources and the usage of water resources.
