Biodiversity is of course a bilateral, economic and political topic for dialogue between India and the EU.

The European Commission has launched a program called “Biodiversity means LIFE”, to illustrate the socio-economic benefits of the EU Green Deal Strategy in India (as regards biodiversity in land use and coastal areas, and biodiversity in green infrastructures/nature-based solutions).

This programme is part of campaign by EU called Lead The Green Change, which is a “People to People” diplomacy initiative encouraging mutual understanding and cultural exchanges between European and Indian civil society, in its broadest sense: citizens, creators, think tanks, academia, private sector, anyone really, with an interest in nature and biodiversity, as the rock-bottom foundation of sustainable development.

The strategy demonstrates the potential and appeal of biodiversity conservation and restoration, in practice, through a series of events organised with partners, around narratives that link the range of mechanisms used to promote the socio-economic benefits of biodiversity (e.g. nature-based solutions and natural capital accounting) to concrete Indian policy priorities (such as health, fair trade, organic farming, eco-tourism, business, disaster prevention and remediation)

Biodiversity is more than just a focal point of national and international policy making for effectively restoring and preserving biodiversity, businesses play a crucial role. The private sector can lead the conceptionalisation, deployment and implementation of actual on-the-ground solutions that tackle distinct issues – in collaboration with private sector and government stakeholders. This involvement is however dependent on viable models and frameworks in which businesses can operate. The need of the hour are hence business and partnership models for European and Indian corporates that assure that biodiversity makes business sense.