8-17. The Intersection of Biodiversity Conservation and EHS Management

Biodiversity conservation, along with climate change countermeasures, is a critical issue directly linked to corporate sustainability. While EHS (environment, health, and safety) management has traditionally focused on occupational safety and legal compliance, in recent years, there has been a growing demand for comprehensive management that also includes impacts on natural capital and ecosystems. Therefore, understanding the intersection between biodiversity conservation and EHS management and incorporating it into business practices is essential to enhancing corporate value.

First, on the environmental side, there is the assessment of the impact of business activities on ecosystems. Factories and resource extraction, for example, carry the risk of biodiversity loss, so it is important to quantitatively understand the impact through environmental and risk assessments. Utilizing an EHS management framework not only ensures compliance with laws and regulations, but also enables sustainable business operations that are conscious of ecosystem conservation.

Next, on the health and safety side, ecosystem degradation can increase health risks for employees and local residents. For example, health damage caused by water pollution and the increased risk of infectious diseases due to deforestation are not unrelated to corporate activities. By incorporating a biodiversity perspective, EHS departments can strengthen their efforts to protect the safety and health of the workplace and local communities.

Additionally, internationally, frameworks for biodiversity information disclosure, such as the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), are evolving, and there is a growing demand for these to be integrated with EHS management. Companies can gain the trust of investors and stakeholders by quantitatively understanding their impact on biodiversity and disclosing this information in conjunction with EHS data.

Overall, biodiversity conservation and EHS management share the common objectives of reducing environmental risks, fulfilling social responsibility, and increasing corporate value. It is important for companies to incorporate an ecosystem conservation perspective into their traditional EHS management and develop sustainable management strategies in line with global standards.