IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

IUCN and Shell have been working together on energy and biodiversity issues since 2000.

In October 2007 the two organizations signed a 5-year collaborative partnership agreement to foster closer collaboration on conservation-related work, at all levels and all over the world. The overall objectives of the agreement are to:

• Enhance the biodiversity conservation performance of Shell and its Affiliates
• Raise biodiversity performance standards in the energy sector and its supply chains
• Strengthen IUCN capacity for leadership in business and biodiversity.

The agreement commits IUCN and Shell to demonstrate leadership in both the business and conservation sectors, and use their combined comparative strengths to leverage positive changes for biodiversity conservation.

Why Shell?

Energy: an IUCN priority
As a large-footprint industry, the oil & gas sector is one of IUCN’s priorities for business engagement.

Engaging with the energy sector is also central to accelerating the development of sustainable energy, another of IUCN’s overarching priorities.

Shell: a growing commitment to biodiversity
While IUCN does not agree with everything Shell does, the company has nevertheless demonstrated a willingness to change its operations and engage with the wider energy sector in order to reduce potential impacts on biodiversity.

In 2001, Shell became the first oil & gas company to develop a biodiversity standard. Now implemented across the business, the standard requires the company to address biodiversity early in new projects and integrate it into impact assessments; consult with biodiversity experts; and develop biodiversity action plans (BAPs) at existing operations in areas of high biodiversity value.

The company has also engaged in structured dialogue and joint initiatives with IUCN since 2000, aimed at developing new biodiversity conservation standards and operational procedures. Highlights from this collaboration include:

• Shell declaring natural World Heritage sites as ‘no go’ areas in 2003 – the first and only oil & gas company to do so
   
• The Energy and Biodiversity Initiative (EBI), a joint industry/NGO initiative that produced a series of best practice guidelines and tools to improve the environmental performance of energy operations.
   
• The Building Biodiversity Business report, which identifies opportunities and mechanisms for market-based biodiversity conservation.
   
• An independent scientific review panel to evaluate the Sakhalin II project of the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (a major Shell joint venture gas development project in Sakhalin, far Eastern Russia), in light of any potential impacts on the critically endangered western grey whales.

IUCN and Shell: an ongoing relationship
The current 5-year collaborative partnership agreement between Shell and IUCN represents the latest development in this long-standing relationship – and a continuation of IUCN’s strategy to influence the energy sector in places where we can effect change. It also represents a continuation of Shell’s strategy to collaborate with biodiversity experts in order to reduce its environmental impact and help conserve biodiversity.

Through this closer relationship, IUCN and Shell are exploring ways to upscale efforts and further integrate biodiversity in the energy business, as well as bring business skills and approaches to conservation.