Improving and protecting biodiversity is vital - but why? And how does biodiversity link to other important concepts like Net Zero and social value?
To find the answers to these questions and further your understanding of biodiversity, tune into this episode of 'Ask the Expert'.
Exploring biodiversity and beyond
At a time when Biodiversity Net Gain is making the headlines, this episode of 'Ask the Expert' will have the answers to your questions on why biodiversity is important and how it is intertwined with Net Zero and social value.
Martyn Fuller is joined by Tabitha Serle, Veolia UK's Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, to discuss all things biodiversity, what customers can do and what Veolia are doing to achieve biodiversity goals as part of our ecological transformation purpose.
Exploring biodiversity and beyond - Transcription
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Good morning,
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everybody, and welcome to this episode of Ask the Expert.
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Today, I'm joined by an expert in the responsible business team here at Veolia.
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Tabitha Searle, we'll be talking to you and I about all things biodiversity.
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Biodiversity is important to us at Veolia.
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It's one of the pillars that contributes to our purpose.
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Our purpose is ecological transformation.
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But why is it important?
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Will it really help us achieve net zero?
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In this episode of Ask the Expert, we're going to be finding out
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more about the link between social value and biodiversity
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and how biodiversity can help achieve net zero
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and the initiatives that Veolia are involved in.
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Before we dive in, Tabitha, welcome.
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Would you like to introduce yourself and tell our viewers and listeners
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a little bit about what they can expect to hear from you today?
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Good morning, Martyn.
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And so I’m Tabitha, corporate social responsibility manager for Veolia.
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And joining this ask the expert session.
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Definitely don't feel like an expert,
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but biodiversity is someone that takes everyone something that takes everyone.
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So today Martyn and
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I are going to talk about what biodiversity is,
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what it means to Veolia, how it fits into the bigger sustainability picture,
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what we're doing and what we see our customers doing as well.
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Excellent. I'm looking forward to it.
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So let's start with the basics.
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Tabby, Tabitha, what is biodiversity?
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So biodiversity is simply the variety of life on earth.
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That's a measure of variation.
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And at the genetic species, habitat, ecosystem and even all over earth level.
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And so includes all living species of animals, plants,
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fungi, micro-organisms, very, very small to the very, very big.
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So, okay, I get that.
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So it's pretty much everything.
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Why is that important then?
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Well, so biodiversity is essential
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for all of the processes that support life on Earth.
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So that includes us humans,
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and we obtain many of our basic needs from the natural world.
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So water, food, fuel, shelter, medicine.
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And on top of that, ecosystems provide crucial services like climate
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regulation, water purification, nutrient cycling, pollination.
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And then a lot of biodiversity within any of those ecosystems
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weakens its ability to provide us with those essentials to survive.
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And within that ecosystem, the range of species
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and organisms work together to maintain balance and support life.
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So if you remove just one species, you can disrupt that balance in ways
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we often don't really understand or recognise yet.
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And biologically diverse ecosystems are also more resilient,
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so they're more likely to survive and adapt to changing conditions.
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Things like flooding or droughts caused by us, by climate change.
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So I remember a
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comment, I can't think who the quote is from right now, but effectively,
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if we remove all the bees, humans are gone in five years.
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That's what we're saying. And that's why it's important.
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It's it's all interconnected and we all rely on each other.
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Yes, exactly.
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And even just
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even within bees, you know, there's lots of different bee species out there.
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We get quite hung up on honeybees, so we put lots of hives in places,
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but then we
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potentially inadvertently disrupt the balance of all the other types of bee.
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So it's a very complicated web that we're not really good enough at balancing out.
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So, I mean, I'm thinking now the stories, you know, of the species that have been
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introduced to other parts of the world, but then drive out another species
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Um, yeah that’s a story for
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another time, I'm sure it's called Patagonia Cats I've got in my head.
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But I'll let we'll get to that point.
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Maybe.
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I know it ends with basically a lot of people ending up in hospital
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because their roofs collapsed
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because the cat eats something that used to eat the weevils anyway.
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As always my mind is wondered
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off.
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Biodiversity and how it all work and how it all connects.
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I get that. But so how does it connect to social value?
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Where does social value come into biodiversity?
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So I guess firstly we often see a bit of a misunderstanding
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that social value is just about projects that directly support the S in ESG.
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So the social bit.
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But really it all explicitly includes activities
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which are some poor environmental outcomes because those will always indirectly
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help society as well.
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So that includes projects that you can do related to biodiversity.
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But also we
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know when we see that projects that support biodiversity
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pretty much always deliver direct benefits to society as well.
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Theres loads of research showing that living in greener, more biodiverse
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areas improves social, mental and physical wellbeing
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and actually bringing it closer to home.
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Our Veolia Orchard's programme, for example, where we plant fruit trees
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in urban schools around the country, we see that delivering on biodiversity
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obviously, but we also see a range of other connected social value outcomes.
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So well-being for the children as they spend time
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outside, educational opportunities, as they learn about tree life
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cycles and planting, health benefits, as they have easier access to fresh fruit,
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other health benefits from improved air quality.
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So it all adds up just from that one initial input.
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Yeah, I see.
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I see the connection now between the biodiversity and the social value and
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yeah,
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real check and balance in it.
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So much,
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so much penetration into into different areas.
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We all love to see animals in the wild though it is one of those,
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those universal moments.
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We all get excited about when at Kingswood when we all look out the window
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and suddenly somebody says there is a deer and the deer are walking across the car park.
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It is a moment we all enjoy that and get that little boost out of it.
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So yeah, I think there's tangible in intangibles here I get that.
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So that's the biodiversity to social value.
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How, how does Net Zero connect then?
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Net Zero is important driver for everyone at the moment,
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but why should we consider biodiversity when setting Net Zero goals?
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So Net
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Zero and biodiversity are really closely entwined,
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but I think this often seems to get forgotten.
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If nature supports the regulation of the overall climate and then habitat
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loss due to human activity which uses that regulation and then climate change,
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which further reduces biodiversity
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loss, it all ends up as a sort of dual crisis.
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So you need to tackle them together.
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And we know that biodiversity can be
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a major tool in helping to achieve Net Zero.
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So more biodiverse ecosystems can sequester and store
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more carbon, protecting, managing, restoring forests.
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For example, offers roughly two thirds
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of the total mitigation potential for nature based solutions.
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We know that despite massive and ongoing losses, forests still cover
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more than 30% of the planet's land and then peatland.
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So wetlands, marshes, swamps, etc.
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cover only 3% of the world's land.
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But some estimates show they store twice as much carbon as all of those forests.
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So preserving all those different
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natural areas is going to help support biodiversity.
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And then we also see that sometimes projects that we do
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that are aiming to deliver on Net Zero things like
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a forestation projects where we plant huge numbers of trees
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actually can have negative biodiversity consequences
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because they're sort of mono-cultures, that end up in these.
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They might have trees, but they’re otherwise quite barren.
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So you've got to sort of consider that as one.
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And actually it's been interesting.
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We're starting to see thinking about how we can be more strategic
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in delivering biodiversity and Net Zero together.
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So recently one of our restored landfill sites,
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we installed solar panels.
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So at Ockendon landfill, 59 megawatts of solar panel went in.
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And so we're able to do that Net Zero via renewable electricity
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and the biodiversity by having restored the landfill sites in one location.
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There's even a bit of research out there suggesting that the shades
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provided by the panels has additional biodiversity benefits.
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Slowing the growing season down allows a wider range of plants
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to grow, protecting from the heat and evaporate transformation.
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that sort of thing. Fabulous.
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I saw something on on LinkedIn, actually, I think the weekend,
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I think
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it may have been in Spain, but it was a solar
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panel farm where they'd installed solar panels in a farm
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and it was allowing the crops to grow
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underneath
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the mass.
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I’m getting this all the wrong way around but, basically
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the courgettes were growing 30% larger.
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So the shade that was being provided
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and it was almost a Net Zero farm in the way that these this was all working.
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So really interesting, really there is a strong link
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between biodiversity Net Zero in both directions.
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Just like monocultures isn't going to be good,
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but then you can have other benefits too.
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So has to be.
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We work together.
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Everything is connected Tabitha, isn't it?
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Yeah, definitely.
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And yeah, Thank you.
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So what are Veolia doing
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to help support and improve biodiversity?
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What initiatives do we have in place?
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So there's loads going on overall,
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as part of our Impact 2023 strategy, we had a number of specific targets
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and objectives around biodiversity on our sites
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and so implement implementing ecological management plans on sites,
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deploying a toolkit for higher priority sites and cutting
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the use of phytosanitary products and raising environmental awareness.
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And we're on track to hit or exceed all of those targets
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by the end of this year, which is great.
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And we've definitely seen and having that consistent approach
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to tackling biodiversity across all sites has made a big difference.
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Less sort of piecemeal them.
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Sometimes I think we say,
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and then we also have more flashy initiatives,
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if you like, all over the country.
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And so the green wall at our Leeds Energy Recovery facility
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for anyone who has seen that before, is really impressive to see.
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At our Tidworth wastewater treatment works.
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We've got this drainage pool system which attracts a massive diversity of wildlife.
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And so, yes, the list goes on.
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There's lots going on all over the country and also closer
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to home for me, for our Kingswood offices, it's been exciting
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to watch the evolution of our two LEKO devices.
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Um so this is a tool which continuously captures
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the sounds of key bio indicator species.
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So it then tells us both the species type and abundance of those species,
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but that's also able to tell us what it means for our overall ecosystem
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health, overall biodiversity, air quality, water quality
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based on the specific needs and features of those bio indicator species.
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We found out
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that we've got nine different bat species, which we wouldn't have expected.
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For anyone who's been to Kingswood, it's surrounded by some green spaces,
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but it's just a big office building, you know, neighboring the M6 pretty much.
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So it's amazing to see how much we do have there.
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And we are now looking at the information collected during this year
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to help us build a data led improvement plan for next year.
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I think that's the you know, the thing
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that's been really exciting about the LEKO project for me,
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obviously, is when I've been quite close to alongside yourself and Alexius,
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seeing it come to life
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and gathering that data and realizing that we do have the ability
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to put a metric against the biodiversity that we have around us
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and then act like a business and do good business
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by figuring out what steps we can take to increase that biodiversity.
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And I know the tool itself.
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I remember a meeting not too long ago with you when you told me
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that they're adding new species they can detect.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So if they started adding in an amphibian species
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and a shrew and a field mouse
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and they are due to add on rats as well, which might have people less excited
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but still an important part of the ecosystem.
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But yes, it has been really interesting seeing
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and also seeing how that's changed through the year.
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It's been a good learning experience to understand which species
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are more or less prevalent in different times of year.
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And we have two boxes in the garden and they’re only what
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Martyn? 50 metres apart from each other.
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Yeah, 50 meters, yeah.
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But one is a bit more in a grass area.
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One's a little bit more tree sheltered.
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And even just with that distance, they show slightly different profiles. And
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it's fabulous
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at finding out the bats that we've got around us.
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The insects that are around us really brings to life the biodiversity.
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And I think it makes for me particularly, you know, I feel more responsible now
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because I know that
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even though I don't see them, Yes, being a great engagement tool. It’s definitely,
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you know, from a data and analysis perspective, it's really powerful.
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But just to help everyone understand what's around them,
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the sort of conversations that it's generated, it's been pretty interesting.
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Exactly. Okay.
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So there's another phrase I keep hearing that I'm
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not the most educated on, so I need some help here Tabitha.
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What is biodiversity net gain
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and what are we doing about that?
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So biodiversity net gain is a new piece of legislation
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coming into effect in January that will require new developments
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to deliver a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain as part of the planning process.
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So whatever biodiversity value was there before development,
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after development, we'll need to measure a 10% increase.
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Ideally that should be delivered on the site itself,
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but sometimes that won't be possible, in which case developers can create
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offsite habitats
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with the same level of improvement either on their land or other land,
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or as a last resort, purchase statutory biodiversity credits from the government.
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And so for
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us that's going to affect any planning applications
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we put in.
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So our planning team has been keeping on top of what they'll need to do.
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And we know that with the resource and waste strategy policies
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that are coming into play,
00:15:05:09 - 00:15:08:02
we're definitely going to see the need for new infrastructure,
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which is going to mean new planning applications.
00:15:11:14 - 00:15:13:19
And then interestingly for us, on the flip side,
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we're also looking at
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whether our landfills that are in the process of restoration
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could be used at biodiversity banks themselves.
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So either to fulfill our own biodiversity net gain requirements
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or in other companies requirements, or even be used as biodiversity credits.
00:15:31:02 - 00:15:33:01
So there's definitely a lot to factor in.
00:15:33:01 - 00:15:36:01
And so for a habitat to be legally secured
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and maintained, so for habitat
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to be used as a biodiversity value in biodiversity net
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gain has to be legally secured and maintained for at least 30 years.
00:15:47:11 - 00:15:49:20
That's not always going to be feasible.
00:15:49:20 - 00:15:52:05
But overall it's really exciting development
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with big potential for biodiversity.
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But we're definitely going to have a steep learning curve come January
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once it comes into effect.
00:15:59:05 - 00:16:01:08
We like a steep learning curve. Yeah.
00:16:03:13 - 00:16:06:09
We've talked a little bit about what Veolia is doing and we've talked
00:16:06:09 - 00:16:10:23
about how important biodiversity is and with this biodiversity net gain,
00:16:11:12 - 00:16:14:08
it's actually, I guess coming through the policy elements
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and the legislative elements and the regulation elements to be also
00:16:19:10 - 00:16:21:16
what can our customers do, what do they need to do?
00:16:23:14 - 00:16:27:02
We know that lots of our customers are already doing a lot in this area,
00:16:27:02 - 00:16:29:05
but there's always more that can be done.
00:16:29:05 - 00:16:32:04
There’s the sort of basic standard approach
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understanding what your biodiversity impacts are,
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where they lie, is it in your site,
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supply chain, etcetera, depending on what type of business you are.
00:16:41:11 - 00:16:45:09
And then setting targets and objectives to help direct action
00:16:45:09 - 00:16:47:14
keep everyone moving in the same direction.
00:16:47:14 - 00:16:49:15
You can't do everything all at once.
00:16:50:05 - 00:16:53:07
Need to set objectives are going to deliver certain outcomes
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and then monitoring those outcomes of those actions.
00:16:57:13 - 00:16:58:04
So we've talked
00:16:58:04 - 00:17:01:15
about tools like LEKO, but there's also lots of other tools available.
00:17:02:04 - 00:17:06:05
Ecologist assessment, obviously staff led monitoring tools out there,
00:17:07:06 - 00:17:10:12
and that will both make sure interventions are working,
00:17:10:12 - 00:17:14:01
but also engage employees and other stakeholders on the journey.
00:17:14:08 - 00:17:17:14
Like we said, we found the LEKO devices being a great engagement tool
00:17:19:03 - 00:17:22:13
and, and then importantly as well, I think through all of this,
00:17:22:22 - 00:17:27:19
finding ways to integrate biodiversity plans and actions into other strategies.
00:17:28:04 - 00:17:32:23
So whether it's your Net Zero plan, employee wellbeing, social value,
00:17:33:10 - 00:17:36:22
integrating biodiversity into multiple strategies
00:17:37:03 - 00:17:39:16
and integrating multiple strategies into biodiversity
00:17:40:04 - 00:17:43:01
helps make sure we're thinking about biodiversity
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as part of that bigger picture and also I think makes each of those areas
00:17:48:00 - 00:17:50:12
stickier as they become dependent on each other,
00:17:50:18 - 00:17:53:16
one is less likely to get dropped to the expense of another
00:17:53:16 - 00:17:55:07
if you know that they're all adding together.
00:17:56:22 - 00:17:57:10
And then I
00:17:57:10 - 00:18:00:12
think making sure suppliers know that biodiversity
00:18:00:12 - 00:18:04:03
is important to you and enlisting them in your strategy as well.
00:18:04:12 - 00:18:07:03
That might be through specific supply policies
00:18:07:03 - 00:18:09:05
or setting expectations around
00:18:10:09 - 00:18:12:10
your suppliers site operations,
00:18:13:00 - 00:18:17:04
or if you have suppliers that have staff on your site for any reason,
00:18:17:04 - 00:18:21:08
seeing what they can do to directly support your biodiversity goals as well.
00:18:23:14 - 00:18:25:03
Great advice there, Tabitha.
00:18:25:03 - 00:18:25:13
Thank you.
00:18:25:13 - 00:18:29:05
I'm sure many of people who are watching and listening back to this
00:18:29:17 - 00:18:34:14
when it becomes a podcast will be having food for thought there.
00:18:36:05 - 00:18:38:07
That's all the time we've got today.
00:18:38:08 - 00:18:42:06
Thank you for joining me today, Tabitha, and sharing your expert knowledge
00:18:42:06 - 00:18:44:08
on this important topic.
00:18:45:08 - 00:18:46:11
If anybody listening
00:18:46:11 - 00:18:49:15
wants to find out more about biodiversity and the ways to improve it,
00:18:50:05 - 00:18:53:12
we'll be adding some links in the comments section for you to read through
00:18:53:16 - 00:18:55:03
and review at your own leisure.
00:18:56:18 - 00:18:58:20
Our next episode, the last
00:18:58:24 - 00:19:03:22
Ask the Expert for 2023, is on the 14th of December at 11 a.m.
00:19:04:09 - 00:19:07:22
and I'll be joined by not one, not two,
00:19:08:22 - 00:19:11:16
but three Veolia experts. Are we allowed to put three experts
00:19:11:16 - 00:19:14:09
in the same place? Talking about food waste
00:19:14:22 - 00:19:17:14
from the impact of food waste to businesses and residents
00:19:18:05 - 00:19:21:21
projects we've supported and food waste reduction tips
00:19:22:18 - 00:19:25:06
for everybody listening and watching across the festive period.
00:19:25:21 - 00:19:28:04
Please don't forget to tune in.
00:19:28:04 - 00:19:31:11
You can also listen back to any and all of our podcast episodes
00:19:31:18 - 00:19:35:16
of Ask the Expert at Veolia dot co dot UK
00:19:35:23 - 00:19:38:14
Forward slash podcast Hyphen hub.
00:19:39:22 - 00:19:42:05
Thank you very much, Tabby. Take care.
00:19:42:05 - 00:19:44:18
I'll see you soon. Thanks, Martyn, Bye!
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