The concept that best expresses the understanding of the business sector represented by CEBDS on environmental services is complementary to the definition provided for in Bill 1667/2007 and includes human actions that are fundamental to the proper functioning of ecosystems:
“Environmental services are considered to be the functions offered naturally by ecosystems, maintained, improved or restored by human action, aiming at the conservation of environmental conditions suitable for life on the Planet.”
Thus, environmental or ecosystem services refer to the benefits that people obtain from nature directly or indirectly. They are of extreme importance for human well-being and economic activities.
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines an ecosystem as a “dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their inorganic environment that interact as a functional unit”.
Preserving ecosystems and environmental services is fundamental to human existence.
Ecosystems are responsible for purifying water and air. They mitigate violent weather events and protect against natural disasters. They also decompose waste, maintain fertile soils and help control erosion.
Animals, such as bees, pollinate plants that, while they are growing, sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Other animals, such as the agouti, help forests and woodlands by dispersing seeds.
Classification of environmental services
Environmental services, according to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) can be classified into:
- Provision Services: products obtained from nature. Examples: food, fresh water and wood;
- Regulatory Services: are the benefits obtained from the regulation of the environment carried out by ecosystems and/or living beings. Example: absorption of CO² by photosynthesis in forests;
- Cultural Services: those intangible benefits obtained from contact with nature that contribute to culture and social relations. Example: cultural heritage;
- Support Services: are those that contribute to the production of other ecosystem services. Example: seed dispersal.
Brazilian Business Commitment to Biodiversity
O Brazilian Business Commitment to Biodiversity aims to emphasize the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services for companies, as well as the fundamental role that they can play in the conservation and sustainable use of these services based on sustainable consumption and production patterns.
The signatories are: Anglo American, Bayer, Boticário, BRK Ambiental, Eletrobras, Equinor, Furnas, Natura, Philip Morris, Shell, Suzano, Vale and Votorantim Cimentos.
