This paper considers a number of related proposals in the broad area of biodiversity and ecosystems policy currently receiving significant attention from national and international policy makers.

Why should business care? The simple answer is that ecosystems services underpin all business operations in some way, and if they are compromised, this could seriously challenge companies.

Between now and 2050 the global population is expected to increase from 6.9 billion to more than 9 billion, with 90% of this growth happening in the developing and emerging world such as China. The global urban population will double, while local demographic patterns will become increasingly diverse.

Emerging and developing countries will be the source of the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the future. While some people in many of these countries have experienced triple digit increases in income over the last ten years, many still live on less than US$ 2 a day and rely on traditional means of lighting, heating and  transport and have less capacity to adapt to the negative aspects of climate change. Energy, climate change and development are inextricably linked; if we don't tackle them together we won't win the battle against any of them.

In the course of daily operations, all businesses impact and depend on ecosystems and the essential ecosystem services they provide. In fact it is hard to think of any economic activity that does not benefit from ecosystem services or in some way alter the ecosystems around it. Corporate ecosystem valuation refers to the use of ecosystem valuation by business where both ecosystem degradation and the benefits provided by ecosystem services are explicitly accounted for with the intention of informing and improving corporate decision-making.

New modeling by the WBCSD shows how energy use in buildings can be cut by 60 percent by
2050 - essential to meeting global climate change targets - but this will require immediate action
to transform the building sector. This is the central message of the report from the WBCSD's
four-year, $15 million Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EEB) research project, the most rigorous study ever conducted on the subject.

"What a way to run the world" is the title of the WBCSD's Annual Review 2008. The theme was chosen almost a year ago, well before the financial meltdown proved just how badly the world was being run. As WBCSD's Chairman, Samuel DiPiazza Jr. points out: "economic crises must remind us that sustainable development is not just about environmental or social issues but also about sound economic development."

This report argues that recycling concrete reduces natural resource exploitation and waste going to landfill. It asks for an ultimate goal of ?zero landfill? of concrete.

Cement Technology Roadmap: Carbon emissions reductions up to 2050” calls for strong national policies to activate known CO 2 mitigation actions that the cement industry can take now to reduce its emissions. It also issues a call to action to develop commercially-viable carbon capture and storage technologies as a method for further reducing global CO2 emissions from the cement industry.

One billion tires reach the end of their useful lives every year. Recovery of end-of-life tires reduces
waste and provides a fuel and material resource that can replace other scarce natural resources.