PARENT SESSION
Organized Oral Session 29: Protecting ecosystem services through private sector partnerships and the capital markets
Organizer(s): BM Kahn and O Loucks
Wednesday, August 10, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 511 B, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Protecting ecosystem services through private sector partnerships and the capital markets.

Kahn, Bruce ^*,1, ¹ Smith Barney, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., New York, NY

ABSTRACT- A growing body of evidence indicates companies that manage environmental, social, and governance risks most effectively tend to deliver better risk-adjusted financial performance than their industry peers. Moreover, all three of these sets of risks are likely to have an even greater impact on companies' competitiveness and financial performance in the future. Businesses that integrate environmental and social issues into their business practices gain competitive advantages. This, in turn, provides leading edge companies with the economic leverage to advance these issues across their entire value chain. Financial markets that are attuned to environmental issues will create permanent incentives for companies to improve their environmental performance, while also ensuring better returns for investors. This oral session explores the capacity for ecosystem science to be integrated with the capital market structure. By expanding the use of ecological tools in capital market assessments, scientists can track information from corporations as to their impacts on ecosystem goods and services. As ecological knowledge begins to permeate the private sector, that knowledge will become more valuable to investors who seek both competitive returns and the restoration of ecosystem values.

Key words: ecosystem goods and services, capital markets, environmental risk management, corporate environmental responsibility