Willing to integrate marine biodiversity into your development and communication and be a player at the forefront of a blue economy?
We can support you !
Engage your business into a positive approach - OCEAN APPROVED® label
Engage your business into a positive approach - OCEAN APPROVED® label
In partnership with Fondation de la Mer, we will support you towards obtaining the « OCEAN APPROVED® » label , the first international label dedicated to Ocean protection. The label is based on a continuous improvment approach ; it aims at identifying the impact of your organisation on the Ocean, and at reducing them over time.
Why choose the OCEAN APPROVED® label ?
Commitment :
Ensure recognition of commitment ans results.
Anticipation :
Be a leader and pioneer to better anticipate market changes.
Mobilisation :
Mobilise teams around visible issues.
Transparency :
Commitments are controlled by independent auditors.
The OCEAN APPROVED® label is a general and voluntary label. It was designed to be accessible to any organization (company, communities) regardless of their size, sector of activity and geography.
The two-level structure of the label allows any organization to enter the labelling process according to its maturity.
- OCEAN APPROVED®« Committed« : Commitment of means
- OCEAN APPROVED®« Advanced » : Obligation of results
OCEAN APPROVED® label awarded for a period of three years.
Wish to know more ? Click here.
improve your products and services
improve your products and services
Drawing on our experience in assessing the terrestrial biodiversity footprint of products over their entire value chain [1], and our work on marine biodiversity [2], [3], we are currently developing a methodology and a tool to assess the impact of fishing and aquaculture economic activities on marine biodiversity. This is intended for business stakeholders -fishing and aquaculture activities, suppliers, processors, distributors- who wish to quantitatively measure the impacts of their activity product on marine biodiversity.
Biodiversity is one of the key issues to be taken into account in a sustainable business strategy. It constitutes one of the planetary limits largely exceeded [4], [5]. Many agribusiness companies have already taken up the subject and biodiversity is becoming, after climate, the differentiating issue for CSR departments.
Indeed, IPBES in 2019 makes an alarming description of the state of biodiversity. It estimates that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. In terms of marine biodiversity, around 2/3 of the marine environment is significantly modified by human activities, almost 2/3 of coral reefs have disappeared or are threatened, and more than a third of all marine mammals are threatened.
But these sectors also have their environmental issues; today, no quantitative tool exists to steer the approach and measure the impact on biodiversity.
[1] A. Asselin et al., « Product Biodiversity Footprint – A novel approach to compare the impact of products on biodiversity combining Life Cycle Assessment and Ecology », Journal of Cleaner Production, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119262.
[2] G. Gaillet, A. Asselin-Balençon, et A. Wermeille, « Sustainable fisheries: towards operationalization of decision-making accounting for biodiversity », Journal of Cleaner Production, 2022, p. 132103..
[3] A. Asselin et A. Wermeille, « Farmed salmon production: what are the main impacts on biodiversity? A generic case study with the Product Biodiversity Footprint », European Commission, Brussels, Belgium, 2021.
[4] B. M. Campbell et al., « Agriculture production as a major driver of the Earth system exceeding planetary boundaries », Ecology and Society, vol. 22, no 4, 2017, doi: 10.5751/ES-09595-220408.
[5] W. Steffen et al., « Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet », Science, vol. 347, no 6223, p. 1259855‑1259855, févr. 2015, doi: 10.1126/science.1259855.
We work in priority on two sectors:
Fisheries and aquaculture are bound to be maintained and/or developed. Indeed, in a society where meat consumption must decrease, fish appears as one of the alternatives for our protein intake. In certain dietary transition scenarios, such as that of the EAT Lancet, the consumption of fish is even increased.
Our objectives
They consist of two stages: 1) developing a robust methodology to determine impacts on biodiversity of activities from fishing and aquaculture 2) developing a tool allowing easy calculation, monitoring over time and facilitated communication.
We aim to place our tool in a scientific context in order to allow an eco-design approach by companies and help them communicate to consumers through robust and understandable indicators.
Our methology
We rely on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology with the latest scientific advances, ours [1], [2], [3], and that of the international community [6], [7], [8]. Our methodology accounts for the five pressures identified by the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment in 2005 and confirmed by IPBES in 2019: Direct exploitation of species (overfishing and bycatch), Climate change, Habitat change, Invasive species and Pollution.
We are contributing to development of additional indicators to cover pressures which are still poorly taken into account by LCA.
Our project
We bring together all stakeholders: companies, NGOs, civil society, technical institutes, research institutes …
We carry out business case studies to test the methodology. These pilot cases ensure that methodology and tool are concrete and applicable in a business context.
Involvement of the research community guarantees scientific excellence. The scientific committee brings together ecological experts and LCA specialists.
Further information can be found on the project website : marine-biodiversity-footprint.com`
[1] A. Asselin et al., « Product Biodiversity Footprint – A novel approach to compare the impact of products on biodiversity combining Life Cycle Assessment and Ecology », Journal of Cleaner Production, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119262.
[2] G. Gaillet, A. Asselin-Balençon, et A. Wermeille, « Sustainable fisheries: towards operationalization of decision-making accounting for biodiversity », Journal of Cleaner Production, 2022, p. 132103
[3] A. Asselin et A. Wermeille, « Farmed salmon production: what are the main impacts on biodiversity? A generic case study with the Product Biodiversity Footprint », European Commission, Brussels, Belgium, 2021.
[6] A. Hélias, J. Langlois, et P. Fréon, « Fisheries in life cycle assessment: Operational factors for biotic resources depletion », Fish and Fisheries, vol. 19, no 6, p. 951‑963, 2018.
[7] A. Emanuelsson, F. Ziegler, L. Pihl, M. Sköld, et U. Sonesson, « Accounting for overfishing in life cycle assessment: new impact categories for biotic resource use », The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, vol. 19, no 5, p. 1156‑1168, mai 2014, doi: 10.1007/s11367-013-0684-z.
[8] J. Langlois, P. Fréon, J.-P. Delgenes, J.-P. Steyer, et A. Hélias, « New methods for impact assessment of biotic-resource depletion in life cycle assessment of fisheries: theory and application », Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 73, p. 63‑71, juin 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.087.
Development and maintenance of environmental databases.
