Ethical BioTrade award for Biodiversity

To celebrate the United Nations 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, the Union for Ethical BioTrade and Food Ingredients Europe are proud to announce the first Ethical BioTrade Awards for Biodiversity. The first award will be presented in November in Madrid, at the Health Ingredients Europe Fair 2010.

The awards, the first of their kind, will recognize the efforts of companies that promote the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) throughout their supply chain. The CBD objectives are: biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of biodiversity, and benefits sharing. The awards will be divided into two categories: biodiversity leadership, and biodiversity innovation.

The applications received for each category will be judged according to several key points, as well as a more detailed set of criteria.

For the leadership award, the key points evaluated will be:

• use of biodiversity and impact surrounding it
• sourcing policy/sustainable sourcing impact
• impact/influence on business

For the innovation award, the key points evaluated will be:

• use of biodiversity and impact surrounding it
• sourcing policy/sustainable sourcing impact
• innovative (product) approach

When submitting applications, candidates will be asked to provide details on the following points:

• description of the sourcing initiative/ sourcing methods
• description of the novelty of the approach
• description of the positive effects the project will have for biodiversity which could be related to
• conservation of biodiversity or
• sustainable use of biodiversity or
• benefit sharing
• description of the potential impact of the project on business ways
• description of the innovative angles of the project

Projects submitted for review are not limited in time, so long as they are ongoing initiatives. The panel of judges will be composed of key experts in the field of biodiversity, brought together from business, NGOs and International Organisations.

To be considered for the Ethical BioTrade Awards for Biodiversity, companies must submit a completed application that consists of detailed answers to the questions enumerated above. Applications can be sent the following address: info@ethicalbiotrade.org