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Industry, in the context of this chapter, is mostly confined to the strict definition of the word: -“economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories”. Industry has a major impact on nature and its biodi- versity in Asia and the Pacific, as it does elsewhere in the world. Industry impacts biodiversity especially through the airborne, wa- terborne and soil-borne pollution that it produces, but also in other ways as elaborated upon in this chapter. At the same time, industry is reliant on biodiversity for goods and services. Many of these contributions from nature can be artificially replicated once they have been discovered and studied, and innovation is producing a growing selection of design solutions that may also benefit bio- diversity. Nevertheless, on the current trajectory, it is unlikely that industry and technology will ever be able to replace all of nature’s potential contributions before their full potential for industry is lost.
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