The oil and gas industry has been operating for many years in some of the world’s most sensitiveenvironments. This paper highlights the critical areas of connection between the biodiversity issue andpetroleum industry activities such as access rights, technology transfer and indigenous organizations. Casestudies illustrate some of the key lessons learned by the oil industry through its experiences of operatingresponsibly in environments of high biodiversity. Successful operations have generally relied upon:management commitment, leadership, and involvement in environment conservation; application of bestpossible environment, health and safety (EHS) practices in petroleum-related activities; ommunication of therisks to, and setting standards for, all parties involved; undertaking thorough environmental and socioeconomicimpact assessments; and monitoring the effects and verifying the impact predictions in order to ensure allmitigating measures are effective.Central to the issue of industry operations and biodiversity is the need to balance environmental impactswith economic and social benefits—benefits not only to the oil company but also to the countries andcommunities in which it operates. Engaging all potentially affected stakeholders in consultation and decisionmakingis essential. Industry, government and the public must work together to establish and to achieve realisticindustrial and employment goals, and to seek positive opportunities to preserve biodiversity in an integratedmanner. A concern for biodiversity is a concern for the natural balance of the planet and for the sustainability ofour life styles.
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