Enhancing Governance

15. Sustainable Business Practices
Encouraging environmentally sustainable business practices in coastal areas


Coastal areas often provide lucrative opportunities for business and industry, for example in fisheries, tourism, mining and agricultural sectors. They are also the focus of rapidly-expanding infrastructure development. Much of this commerce, industry and development is taking place and in some cases with scant regard to the environment, and with devastating consequences on coastal ecosystems and local livelihoods. At the same time, the potential to profit and gain from environmentally sustainable business remain little known, and there are few incentives for the private sector to become engaged in activities which are supportive of coastal conservation.

There are vast environmental threats associated with private businesses but we tend to forget the numerous opportunities that business and industry provide. More attempts need to be made to directly engage with commerce, industry and the private sector in coastal management at national and regional levels. Work in this area tend to have focused on specific locations or partnerships, and there has been little scaling-up or sharing of lessons learned. Great interest has been shown by certain sectors, including those involved in the tourism industry and housing development, in identifying ways of promoting environmentally-friendly business opportunities and practices.

For example, MFF has begun discussions with the Six Senses Group in the Maldives in demonstrating increased cooperation between resorts for common property resource management.  Cooperation between resorts in the Baa Atoll already exists and further support could expand the model. In order to stimulate replication, training in impact analysis and monitoring is being explored. Twinning between resorts and populated islands is also a part of the Government of Maldives plans under the national MFF strategy. MFF is also in the process of identifying opportunities, and to work to promote environmentally sustainable business practices across the many sectors, industries and companies operating in coastal areas of the region.

This programme of work carries out actions to generate the following outputs:

1. Development and dissemination of sector-specific guidelines on environmental risks, threats and opportunities, and existing regulatory mechanisms, involving both the adaptation of existing materials (including those produced after the tsunami) as well as production of new resources.
2. Awareness-raising among chambers of commerce and other business/commercial associations on green business opportunities and benefits.
   
   
3. Targeted support to specificpartnerships between government, NGOs and local communities and the private sector in developing joint mechanisms and collaborative arrangements for identifying opportunities for green enterprise development and support to coastal conservation.
   
   
4. Development of codes of conduct, leading to possible certification schemes where appropriate, for key industries and business sectors such as tourism, housing and fisheries.