Natural capital accounting and biodiversity in the Italian winemaking industry

Biodiversity is becoming a critical aspect of the ‘environmental’ dimension of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards governing corporate behaviour. Biodiversity is a precondition for the effective functioning of ecosystems and ultimately for sustaining life on Earth. Biodiversity loss leads to simplification, decline and the progressive disappearance of life. The United Nations highlighted safeguarding biodiversity as Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 15 of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The importance of biodiversity has been recognised at both global (e.g. the impact of the: Final Report – the Economics of Biodiversity. The Dasgupta Review (https://www .gov .uk /government /publications /final -report -the -economics -of -biodiversity -the -dasgupta -review)) and European levels (e.g. the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (https://environment .ec .europa .eu /strategy / biodiversity -strategy -2030 en)). This chapter first introduces the Italian winemaking sector. It then discusses how biodiversity is defined in the winemaking sector. The chapter goes on to analyse a range of reports on sustainability and biodiversity produced by a sample of leading Italian winemaking companies. It then discusses a particular case study of Cantine Teanum, a family-run small-medium enterprise (SME) situated in the Apulia Region, using detailed qualitative analysis.