Servizi ecosistemici e biodiversità: una nuova prospettiva per un’economia più sostenibile (Ecosystem services and biodiversity: a new perspective for a more sustainable economy)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s102.2017.12Keywords:
sustainability; ecosystem services; biodiversity; management; economic tools; natural sciencesAbstract
Purpose of paper: This paper aims at building a bridge among management studies, natural sciences and ecological economics. Concepts such as ecosystem services and biodiversity are introduced with the purpose to provide a new perspective to sustainability management.
Methodology: The paper is theoretical. Constructs and tools developed in other disciplines are illustrated and discussed in order to provide a new knowledge platform to management studies.
Results: The main results are: a) a theoretical framework to illustrate the relation of interdependence between the firm with the social-ecological systems; b) an exam of the most important economic tools developed to protect ecosystem services and biodiversity; c) analyze the main implications of the management of the firm.
Limits of the study: This is a first study aiming at opening new research avenues both theoretical and empirical. Qualitative (e.g. case studies) and quantitative research can stem from this contribution.
Practical implications: The theoretical framework and the economic tools analyzed in this paper provide several hints and suggestions to develop a more environmentally sustainable management strategy.
Novelty of the paper: The paper broadens managerial literature introducing new constructs and concepts from natural sciences. This new perspective helps to position the firm into the social-ecological system, favoring a more coherent interpretation of the relation of interdependence with the natural environment.
References
AA.VV. (2011), “La sostenibilità come indirizzo degli investimenti industriali”, L’industria, vol. 32, n. 2, aprile-giugno, (inserto Speciale), pp. 213-356.
ANDERSON P., MEYER A., EISENHARDT K., CARLEY K., PETTIGREW A. (1999). “Introduction to the special issue: Applications of complexity theory to organization science”, Organization Science, vol. 10, n. 3, pp. 233-236.
ANKER H.T. (2000), “The Polluter Pays Principle: Problems and Issues Related to Biodiversity”, in Anker H.T., Basse E.M. (Eds.), Land Use and Nature Protection: Emerging Legal Aspects, Copenhagen, pp. 69-71.
ANSARI S., WIJEN F., GRAY B. (2013), “Constructing a climate change logic: An institutional perspective on the “tragedy of the commons”, Organization Science, vol. 24, n. 4, pp. 1014-1040.
ARAGON-CORREA J.A., SHARMA S. (2003), “A contingent resource-based view of proactive corporate environmental strategy”, Academy of Management Review, vol. 28, n. 1, pp. 71-88.
BALVANERA P., PFISTERER A.B., BUCHMANN N., HE J., NAKASHIZUKA T., RAFFAELLI D., SCHMID B. (2006), “Quantifying the evidence for biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning and services”, Ecol. Lett., vol. 9, n.10, pp. 1146-1156.
BANSAL P., HOFFMAN A. (eds) (2012), The Oxford Handbook on Business and the Natural Environment, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
BACCARANI C., TESTA F., UGOLINI M. (1993), “Le scelte competitive nell’evoluzione delle attese sociali”, Sinergie, n. 31, pp. 203.
BERCHICCI L., KING A. (2007), “11 postcards from the edge: a review of the business and environment literature”, The Academy of Management Annals, vol. 1, n. 1, pp. 513-547.
BISHOP J., KAPILA S., HICKS F., MITCHELL P., VORHIES F. (2008), Building Biodiversity Business, Shell International Limited and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, London, UK, and Gland, Switzerland, pp. 164.
BOONS F., LÜDEKE-FREUND F. (2013), “Business models for sustainable innovation: State-ofthe-art and steps towards a research agenda”, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 45, pp. 9-19.
BYRNES J., LEFCHECK J.S., GARNFELDT L., GRIFFIN J.N., ISBELL F., HECTOR A., (2014), “Multifunctionality does not imply that all functions are positively correlated”, Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 111:E5490.
BRÄUER I., MÜSSNER R., MARSDEN K., OOTERHUIS F., RAYMENT M., MILLER C., DODOKOVA A. (2006), The use of market incentives to preserve biodiversity, Final Report, Ecologic, a project under framework contract for economic analysis, ENV.G.1/FRA/2004/008.
BROWN A., SCHULTZ D., BACCARANI C., GOLINELLI G.M., GATTI C., VOLPE L. (2015), “Sustainability, stakeholder and business”, Sinergie, vol. 33, n. 96, pp. 9-15.
CERVELLINI Q. (1990), “Lineamenti di un approccio aziendale al rapporto impresa-ambiente”, Sinergie, n. 21/22.
COSTANZA R. (1989), “What is ecological economics?”, Ecological economics, vol. 1, n. 1, pp. 1-7.
COSTANZA R., D’ARGE R., DE GROOT R., FARBER S., GRASSO M., HANNON B., LIMBURG K., NAEEM S., O’NEILL R.V., PARUELO J., RASKIN R.G., SUTTON P., VAN DEN BELT M. (1997), “The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital”, Nature, vol. 387, pp. 253-260.
DALY H. E. (1972), “In defense of a steady-state economy”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 54, issue 5, pp. 945-954.
DALY H.E. (1977), Steady State Economics, Freeman W.H., San Francisco.
DAILY G.C. (1997), Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems, Island Press, Washington.
DE GROOT P.S., WILSON M.A., BOEMANS R.M.J. (2002), “A typology for the classification of ecosystem functions, goods and services”, Ecological Economics, vol. 41, n. 3, pp. 393-408.
DIAZ S., FARGIONE J., CHAPIN F.S., TILMA D. (2006), “Biodiversity loss threatens human well-being”, Plos Biol., vol. 4, n. 8, pp. 1300-1305.
ECCLES R.G., IOANNOU I., SERAFEIM G. (2014), “The impact of corporate sustainability on organizational processes and performance”, Management Science, vol. 60, n. 11, pp. 2835-2857.
EHRLICH P.R., EHRLICH A.H. (1981), Extinction: the causes and consequences of the disappearance of species, Random House, New York.
FOLKE C. (2006), “Resilience: the emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses”, Global Environmental Change, n. 16, pp. 253-267.
FOLKE C., CARPENTER S. R., WALKER B., SCHEFFER M., CHAPIN T., ROCKSTRÖM J. (2010), “Resilience thinking: integrating resilience, adaptability and transformability”, Ecology and Society, vol. 15, n. 4, p. 20. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss4/art20/
FREY M. (1995), Il Management Ambientale, Franco Angeli, Milano.
GEORGE G., SCHILLEBEECKX S. J., LIAK T. L. (2015), “The management of natural resources: An overview and research agenda”, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 58, n. 6, pp. 1595-1613.
GOLINELLI G.M., VOLPE L. (2012), Consonanza, valore, sostenibilità. Verso l’impresa sostenibile, Cedam, Padova.
GÓMEZ-BAGGETHUN E., DE GROOT R., LOMAS P.L., MONTES C. (2010), “The history of ecosystem services in economic theory and practice: From early notions to markets and payment schemes”, Ecological Economics, vol. 69, n. 6, pp. 1209-1218.
GUNDERSON L.H., HOLLING C. S. (2002), Panarchy: understanding transformations in human and natural systems, Island Press, Washington, DC.
GUSMEROTTI N., TESTA F., AMIRANTE D., FREY M. (2012), “The role of negotiating tools in the environmental policy mix instruments: determinants and effects of Environmental Agreements”, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 35, n. 35, pp. 39-49.
GUTMAN P. (2006), PES: A WWF Perspective. Presentation given at the Workshop on: Conservation Finance, Global Biodiversity Forum, Curitiba, Brazil, March 25th.
HART S.L. (1995), “A natural-resource-based view of the firm”, Academy of Management Review, vol. 20, n. 4, pp. 986-1014.
HOFFMAN A., GEORG S. (2012), “A history of research on business and the natural environment: Conversations from the field”, in Georg S., Hoffman A. (Eds.), Critical perspectives in business and management: Business and the natural environment, Oxford, Routledge, pp. 1-58.
HOFFMAN A., BANSAL P. (2012) (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Business and the Environment, Oxford University Press., Oxford.
HOFFMAN A., BANSAL P. (2012), “Retrospective, perspective and prospective: Introduction”, in Hoffman A., Bansal P. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook on business and the natural environment (pp. 3-28), Oxford University Press., Oxford, England.
HOFFMAN A.J., JENNINGS P.D. (2015), “Institutional Theory and the Natural Environment: Research in (and on) the Anthropocene”, Organization and Environment, doi: 10.1177/1086026615575331.
HOLLING C.S. (1998), “Two cultures of ecology”, Conservation Ecology, vol. 2, n. 2, p. 4.
JAFFE A.B., PALMER K. (1997), “Environmental regulation and innovation: a panel data study”, Review of economics and statistics, vol. 79, n. 4, pp. 610-619.
KINZIG A. (2009), “Ecosystem services”, in Levin S.A., The Princeton Guide to Ecology, Princeton University Press., Princeton, New Jersey.
LEVIN S.A. (1998), “Ecosystems and the biosphere as complex adaptive systems”, Ecosystems, vol. 1, pp. 431-436.
LEVIN S.A. (eds) (2009), The Princeton Guide to Ecology, Princeton University Press., Princeton, New Jersey.
LEVY D.L., LICHTENSTEIN B. (2012), “Approaching Business and the Environment with Complexity Theory”, in Hoffman A., Bansal P. (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Business and the Environment, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
LINTON J.D., KLASSEN R., JAYARAMAN V. (2007), “Sustainable supply chains: An introduction”, Journal of operations management, vol. 25, n. 6, pp. 1075-1082.
LOREAU M. (2010), “Linking biodiversity and ecosystems: towards a unifying ecological theory”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, vol. 365, n. 1357, pp. 49-60.
MAGUIRE S., MCKELVEY B., MIRABEAU L., ÖZTAS N. (2006) “Complexity Science and Organization Studies”, in Clegg S.R., Hardy C., Lawrence T., Nord W.B. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organization studies, pp. 165-215. Sage Publications, London.
MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT (MEA) 2005, Living beyond our means. Natural. assets and human well-being, http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/Reports.aspx#
NAEEM S. (2009), “Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services”, in Levin S.A., The Princeton Guide to Ecology, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
NORGAARD R.B. (2010), “Ecosystem services: from eye-opening metaphor to complexity blinder”, Ecological Economics, vol. 69, pp. 1219-1227.
NOVETHIC (2013), Overview of ESG Rating Agencies, September.
OECD (1999), Handbook of Incentive Measures for Biodiversity: Design and Implementation, OECD Publishing, Paris.
OECD (2004), The Recommendation of the Council on the Use of Economic Instruments in Promoting the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, C(2004)81, OECD, Paris.
OECD (2005), Environmentally Harmful Subsidies: Challenges for Reform, OECD, Paris.
OECD (2006), Using Market Mechanisms to Manage Fisheries: Smoothing the Path, OECD Publishing, Paris.
OECD (2008), Report on Implementation of the 2004 Council Recommendation on the Use of Economic Instruments in Promoting the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, ENV/EPOC/GSP/BIO (2008)1/FINAL, OECD, Paris.
ODUM E.P. (1953), Fundamentals of Ecology, W. B. Saunders Company, pp. xii + 384, illus, Philadelphia-London.
ODUM H.T. (1983), Systems ecology: an introduction, John Wiley, New York.
ODUM E.P., ODUM H.T. (1972) “Natural areas as necessary components of man’s total environment”, in Transcript of the 37th North American Wildlife Resources Conference, Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, DC. pp. 178-189.
OSTROM E. (2011), “Reflections on ’’some unsettled problems of irrigation”, American Economic Review, vol. 101, n. 1, pp. 49-63.
OSTROM E. (2012), “Why do we need to protect institutional diversity?”, European Policy Science, vol. 11, 2012, pp. 128-147.
PASTORE A. (2012), “Green marketing e mobilità sostenibile” (Sezione tematica: La mobilità nel rispetto dell’ambiente. Il ruolo del marketing), Mercati e Competitività, n. 2, pp. 13-20.
PEATTIE K. (2001), “Towards sustainability: The third age of green marketing”, Marketing Review, n. 2 (Winter) p. 129.
PESCHE D., MÉRAL P., HRABANSKI M., BONNIN M. (2012), “Ecosystem services and Payments for Environmental Services: Two Sides of the Same Coin?”, in Muradian R., Rival L. (Eds.), Governing the Provision of Ecosystem services, Springer, Dordrecht and New York.
PORTER M.E., VAN DER LINDE C. (1995), “Toward a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relationship”, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 9, n. 4, pp. 97-118.
REINHARDT F. (1998), “Environmental product differentiation: Implications for corporate strategy”, California Management Review, vol. 40, n. 4, pp. 43-73.
ROCKSTRÖM J. STEFFEN W., NOONE K., PERSSON Å, CHAPIN F.S., LAMBIN E.F., LENTON T.M., SCHEFFER M., FOLKE C., SCHELLNHUBER H.J., NYKVIST B., DE WIT C.A., HUGHES T., VAN DER LEEUW S., RODHE H., SÖRLIN S., SNYDER P.K., COSTANZA R., SVEDIN U., FALKENMARK M., KARLBERG L., CORELL R.W., FABRY V.J., HANSEN J., WALKER B., LIVERMAN D., RICHARDSON K., CRUTZEN P., FOLEY J.A. (2009), “A safe operating space for humanity”, Nature, vol. 461, n. 7263, pp. 472-475.
SCHALTEGGER S., BENNETT M., BURRITT R. (Eds.) (2006), Sustainability accounting and reporting, vol. 21, Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
STARIK M., KANASHIRO P. (2013), “Toward a theory of sustainability management: Uncovering and integrating the nearly obvious”, Organization and Environment, n. 26, pp. 7-30.
STEFFEN W., RICHARDSON K., ROCKSTRÖM J., CORNELL S.E., FETZER I. BENNETT E.M., BIGGS R., CARPENTER S.R., DE VRIES W., DE WIT C.A., FOLKE C., GERTEN D., HEINKE J., MACE G.M., PERSSON L.M., RAMANATHAN V., REYERS B., SÖRLIN S. (2015), “Planetary Boundaries: Guiding Human Development on a Changing Planet”, Science, vol. 347, pp. 736.
TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) (2010), The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Business and Enterprise, http://www.teebweb.org/business-and-enterprise-report/
TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) (2011), The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in National and International Policy Making, Edited by Patrick ten Brink. Earthscan, London and Washington.
TENCATI A., POGUTZ S. (2015), “Recognizing the limits: Sustainable development, corporate sustainability and the need for innovative business paradigms”, Sinergie Italian Journal of Management, vol. 33, n. 96, pp. 37-55.
TESTA F., RIZZI F., DADDI T., GUSMEROTTI N.M., IRALDO F., FREY M. (2014), “EMAS and ISO 14001: the differences in effectively improving environmental performance”, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 68, pp. 165-173.
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY (2012), The new business imperative: Valuing natural capital, http://www.corporateecoforum.com/valuingnaturalcapital/offline/download.pdf
UN GLOBAL COMPACT, IUCN (2012), A Framework for corporate action. Biodiversity and ecosystem services.
VITOUSEK P.M., MOONEY H.A., LUBCHENCO J., MELILLO J.M. (1997), “Human domination of earth ecosystems”, Science, vol. 277, n. 5325, p. 494-499.
WBCSD (2011), Guide to corporate ecosystem valuation: A framework for improving corporate decision-making, http://www.wbcsd.org/Pages/EDocument/EDocumentDetails.aspx?ID=104&NoSearchContextKey=true
WHITEMAN G., WALKER B., PEREGO P. (2013), “Planetary boundaries: Ecological foundations for corporate sustainability”, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 50, n. 2, pp. 307-336.
WINN M., POGUTZ S. (2013), “Business, Ecosystems, and Biodiversity: New Horizons for Management Research”, Organization and Environment, vol. 26, n. 2.
WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE, MERIDIAN INSTITUTE, & WBCSD (2008), The corporate ecosystem services review: Guidelines for identifying business risks and opportunities arising from ecosystem change, Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, http://pdf.wri.org/corporate_ecosystem_services_review.pdf
WUNDER S. (2005), Payments for environmental services: some nuts and bolts, CIFOR Occasional Paper n . 42. http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/publications/pdf_files/OccPapers/OP-42.pdf