🌱 What ecosystem services do rivers and wetlands provide?
As rivers and wetland ecosystems provide a plurality of ecosystem services, damage to them can also lead to huge economic losses. Recent research from the European Central Bank — for example — shows that approximately 75% of all euro area corporate loans are strongly dependent on at least one ecosystem service.[i] Moreover, wetlands and riverine systems are “central to any hopes of tackling the climate emergency facing our planet”.[ii]
🌱 What can companies do to protect rivers and wetlands?
In the context of protecting rivers and their biodiversity, companies willing to take on responsibility should assess and address the environmental and social implications of mining critical raw materials. They should take steps “to extract responsibly, waste less, use safer processes, incorporate new sustainable technologies, promote the improved wellbeing of local communities, curb emissions, and improve environmental stewardship”.[iii]
🌱 How can companies restore wetlands?
As river floodplains are hubs for biodiversity,[iv] companies should also take proactive steps to try and “reverse the decline of natural wetlands”.[v] In practice, this means that their activities on land or connected bodies of water — such as the unintentional runoff of substances — must be considered and adequately managed. It also means that steps need to be taken — by companies or with their support — to ensure that bodies of water are properly (re)connected and able to move freely.[vi]
🌱 What else can companies do?
Beyond this, it is also possible “to curb freshwater biodiversity loss”, by “accelerating implementation of environmental flows”, “improving water quality”, and “safeguarding and restoring river connectivity”.[vii] In practice, this means that companies should ensure that water availability is managed, considering the connectivity of habitats, sediment flows, and the natural movement of rivers. They should also prevent chemicals from being released into the environment — or otherwise, carefully monitor these across entire hydrological systems.[viii]
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Krisna Baghouzian and Christine Nikander. The newsletter titled “How does critical raw material mining impact river biodiversity?” was originally published in “The E-Waste Newsletter”.
[i] European Central Bank (ECB), Occasional Paper Series No 333, Living in a world of disappearing nature: physical risk and the implications for financial stability (2023). https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops/ecb.op333~1b97e436be.en.pdf (20.02.2025). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[ii] Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025). See also: https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[iii] Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Mining and the Sustainable Development Goals. https://ccsi.columbia.edu/content/mining-and-sustainable-development-goals (26.08.2024). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[iv] Palsa & Pulk, How can businesses protect rivers and their biodiversity? https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[v] Wetlands International, Call for an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework on World Wetlands Day 2020. https://www.wetlands.org/call-for-an-ambitious-global-biodiversity-framework-on-world-wetlands-day-2020/ (20.02.2025). See also https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[vi] Palsa & Pulk, How can businesses protect rivers and their biodiversity? https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[vii] Tickner et al., Bending the Curve of Global Freshwater Biodiversity Loss: An Emergency Recovery Plan (2020). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338344940_Bending_the_Curve_of_Global_Freshwater_Biodiversity_Loss_-_An_Emergency_Recovery_Plan (20. 02.2025). See also: https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).
[viii] Tickner et al., Bending the Curve of Global Freshwater Biodiversity Loss: An Emergency Recovery Plan (2020). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338344940_Bending_the_Curve_of_Global_Freshwater_Biodiversity_Loss_-_An_Emergency_Recovery_Plan (20. 02.2025); Gianuca et al., River flow intermittence influence biodiversity-stability relationships across spatial scales: Implications for an uncertain future (2024). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39162046/ (20.02.2025). See also: https://www.palsapulk.com/post/how-can-businesses-protect-rivers-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).