Motives, opportunities, and risks for private sector investment in protected areas with international importance: evidence from German companies
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- 作者：Nathalie Meißner ; Ulrike Grote
- 关键词：Biodiversity ; Certificates ; Corporate environmental responsibility ; Ecosystem services ; Expert interviews ; Private sector investment ; Protected areas
- 刊名：Environment, Development and Sustainability
- 出版年：2017
- 出版时间：February 2017
- 年：2017
- 卷：19
- 期：1
- 页码：199-219
- 全文大小：
- 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
- 刊物主题：Sustainable Development; Environmental Management; Environmental Economics; Ecology; Economic Growth; Economic Geology;
- 出版者：Springer Netherlands
- ISSN：1573-2975
- 卷排序：19
文摘
What motives do companies have to make a voluntary contribution to the protection and conservation of ecosystems? Could an international market for protected area certificates (PACs)—issued for geographical areas managed in accordance with social and environmental best practices—boost private investment? What are the market opportunities and risks that influence private sector investment? These questions are evaluated based on semi-structured expert interviews conducted in 39 German companies. Triangulation is used for data analysis to combine the advantages of qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative interview results complemented with the exploratory factor analysis allow identifying five motives for private sector investment, of which three are key motives in the early stage of developing PACs: direct financial benefits; the social legitimacy of entrepreneurial business; and the corporate dependency on ecosystems. Opportunities for private companies arise from the high marketing potential of certificates, the international orientation of the PAC market, and the bundling of different ecosystem benefits. Identified risks include a lack of differentiation, additional costs, and green washing. Depending on the transparency of the certification scheme, companies are aware that PACs could both improve and damage their credibility and reputation.