IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

On the 5th of October, 2007 Royal Dutch Shell and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) signed an historic collaborative partnership agreement, pledging “…to enhance biodiversity conservation performance by Shell and its Affiliates as a measure of their sustained profitable operations, to raise biodiversity performance standards in the energy sector and its supply chain, and to strengthen IUCN capacity for leadership in business and biodiversity”. Upon the first anniversary of the signing, we reflect on what has happened in the first year of the partnership.

The Start

Shortly after the signing ceremony in The Hague, a planning workshop was held in Prangins, Switzerland (14th – 15th November, 2007), to initiate implementation of the agreement. This workshop identified five potential areas of work that could contribute to the objectives of the partnership – the Arctic, biofuels, protected areas, water, and legacies.

Organization

The partnership is guided by a Steering Committee made up of up to eight members, four each from Shell and IUCN. The Steering Committee is charged with managing the strategic elements of the collaboration, providing operational direction on strategic project implementation, approving annual work plans and budgets, reviewing progress reports on collaborative projects, and providing guidance to the Relationship Managers. In June, 2008, IUCN hired Dennis Hosack as its Relationship Manager, to work closely with Steven De Bie, Shell’s Relationship Manager. The Relationship Managers are tasked with working together to analyze and promote the implementation of the collaboration and to exchange information on the progress of activities related to the objectives of the Agreement.

The partnership also includes staff secondments and in December, 2007 a Shell staff member, Saskia de Koning, began a secondment with IUCN part time. In August 2008, the IUCN secondment to Shell, Virpi Stucki, reported to The Hague to begin work.

In July 2008 Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director General of IUCN, and Dennis Hosack attended a Shell Exploration and Production Leadership Team meeting in The Hague. The Executive Director of Exploration and Production for Royal Dutch Shell and Shell Executive Vice Presidents representing areas of Shell engagement around the world also attended the meeting. The discussion focused on global warming, the Arctic, and Nigeria.

The Shell – IUCN partnership is divided into two work streams – a Base Work Programme and a Strategic Programme. The Base Work Programme covers research and development activities as well as the overall coordination of the partnership. It includes the development of conservation and related policies, approaches and tools that have potential sector-wide influence and application to the energy sector, mobilization of IUCN technical assistance and advice regarding biodiversity conservation in select projects of the Shell Group, and provision of Shell institutional and project support to IUCN in areas of business engagement, business skills, and business process development.

The Strategic Programme deals with projects that have potentially large impact on biodiversity conservation and/or have potential for setting higher biodiversity conservation standards in the energy sector.

Base Work Programme

In 2008, the Base Work Programme included projects in the IUCN Species Programme, a scoping project on biofuels, a scoping project to investigate the potential for collaboration on a Business Academy for Conservation, and business skills transfer from Shell to IUCN. In addition a World Conservation Congress Futures Pavilion was sponsored, in Barcelona, through the Base Work Programme.

Strategic Programme

In 2008, a scoping mission was undertaken, to investigate the biodiversity aspects of the upcoming decommissioning of oil and gas platforms in the North Sea. This project resulted in the development of a North Sea Fact Sheet, contracted between the partnership and the World Maritime University. It is hoped that 2009 will see this project develop into an assessment of the future for the North Sea, environmentally, economically, and socially.

In addition to the North Sea, Strategic Programme projects that are under development for implementation in 2009 include a strategic assessment of Arctic issues and an independent review of Shell Biodiversity Action Plans.

Conclusion

The first year has established some important milestones: the secondments are in place; Relationship Managers are overseeing the work being undertaken; the Steering Committee is providing clear direction; and the base projects are underway.

The World Conservation Congress provided a mandate to continue this relationship while striving to meet the ambitious goals set by both parties. The World Conservation Congress also highlighted concerns, that the partnership takes very seriously, by the conservation community and it will work hard to build trust by demonstrating progress towards the main objectives.

Efforts are underway to improve communications on areas of work under consideration, projects currently being implemented, and on the risks and benefits of collaboration, as well as the measures being taken to mitigate those risks. The initial success in engaging both sides on the issues such as the Arctic and biofuels, and the shared interest in Biodiversity Action Plans and the North Sea, are promising.

Further information can be obtained ……..

Dennis Hosack – IUCN
Steven de Bie – Shell International
 

Last week Shell repeated its intention to disinvest in wind and solar power and concentrate its efforts and investments on biofuels. IUCN takes note of Shell’s decision and hopes that it can be convinced to show more leadership in renewable energy in the future.

It is IUCN’s view that Oil and Gas companies should transform themselves into Energy companies and play an active and positive role in building a sustainable energy future for the world. A future where the societal choices about energy mixes and energy consumption have a radically reduced carbon footprint, are more equitable, do not threaten biodiversity, and ensure continued supply of ecosystem goods and services.

IUCN’s efforts towards a more sustainable energy future include promoting energy policies and strategies that mitigate the impact of growing energy demand on biodiversity and encouraging the incorporation of ecosystem services that underpin sustainable and equitable energy into energy policies and strategies.

Shell’s intentions to concentrate its efforts and investments on biofuels make it all the more important for IUCN to continue its work on developing robust standards and criteria for sustainable biofuel production. We will support the design and implementation of sound regulatory frameworks for biofuel markets, and develop practical tools for achieving sustainability throughout the biofuels supply chain. We are aware that biofuels can pose risks to ecosystems and livelihoods – particularly from current technologies, but if managed properly they can be biodiversity friendly, provide local livelihoods, reduce dependency on fossil fuels and provide equitable and economical alternative energy.

IUCN has compiled tools to help manage the environmental footprint of biofuel production and continues to develop new tools to manage, for example, the risks of introducing invasive species through biofuel plantations. Shell’s collaboration with IUCN on biofuels tools has helped ensure that these tools are relevant to the oil and gas industry and to Shell’s own work. The latter is particularly important given that Shell is a major player in the global biofuels market. IUCN’s work with Shell is helping to ensure that standards and criteria are robust and that the tools are adopted quickly by biofuel producers and buyers. In this way the biofuels marketplace is being influenced directly.

Societies need to move quickly to new energy systems based on alternatives to fossil fuels, using innovative distribution systems, and based on different energy consumption patterns. Decisions made by societies on energy futures will have substantial consequences on the integrity and diversity of nature. IUCN has a key role to play in promoting a rapid transition to a sustainable energy future which means an energy mix that has a radically reduced carbon footprint, is more equitable and does not impact on biodiversity.
 

The partnership between Shell and IUCN builds on the discussion and debate during the Fourth World Conservation Congress in Barcelona in October. The Motion to terminate the agreement between Shell and IUCN, sponsored by Friends of the Earth International, Pro Natura, Stichting Natuur en Milieu, Centro de Derechos Humanos y Ambiente, Yonge Nawe Environmental Action Group, was rejected by IUCN membership.

During 2009, the partnership looks to increase its engagement in issues central to decreasing the footprint of Shell in several places where Shell currently works or has an intention to expand its influence. Major projects to be the focus of attention in 2009 include the North Sea and the Arctic.

The North Sea is a focus as many oil and gas platforms will begin to approach decommissioning status and the question remains as to the most acceptable, both environmentally and socio-economically, solution to decommissioning of platforms. IUCN and Shell have begun discussions regarding alternative solutions to oil and gas platform removal, with the most benefit, environmentally and socio-economically, our ultimate goal.

The Arctic will continue to be an issue for the world, with more and more efforts being directed at exploration and development of oil and gas fields there. IUCN would prefer that no further exploitation occur in the Arctic, but we realise that it is more likely to be the case that oil and gas operations will expand in the Arctic. IUCN thus prefers to influence the decisions on where, how, and when such activities take place by engaging with the industry and governments on this issue. IUCN and Shell will work to engage stakeholders in at least one workshop during 2009.

Additionally, IUCN continues to be engaged in smaller projects involving Shell on a range of topics, including: bears in Russia; biofuels; business skills transfer; conservation training for businesses; and Red List species support.