Economic Costs
"Humanity has fabricated the illusion that somehow we can get by without biodiversity or that it is somehow peripheral to our contemporary world: the truth is we need it more than ever on a planet of 6 billion [people], heading to over 9 billion by 2050. Business as usual is no longer an option if we are to avoid irreversible damage to the life-support systems of our planet."
-Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Most people likely are not intentionally working to destroy biodiversity for the sake of profit. People have families to provide for and personal and financial goals to reach. Those more immediate needs can overshadow the need to be sustainable in our business practices as well as in everyday life. Oftentimes measures proposed to protect the environment are seen as being in conflict with economic success. However, while this can be true in certain circumstances in the short-term, for the long-term security of a quality way of life, stewarding the resources of our planet with insight and prudence is economically critical.
In the US, at least $3 trillion of our economy is dependent on Earth's species.
Economic Implications
-Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Most people likely are not intentionally working to destroy biodiversity for the sake of profit. People have families to provide for and personal and financial goals to reach. Those more immediate needs can overshadow the need to be sustainable in our business practices as well as in everyday life. Oftentimes measures proposed to protect the environment are seen as being in conflict with economic success. However, while this can be true in certain circumstances in the short-term, for the long-term security of a quality way of life, stewarding the resources of our planet with insight and prudence is economically critical.
In the US, at least $3 trillion of our economy is dependent on Earth's species.
Economic Implications
- It is estimated that for an annual investment of US$45 billion into protected areas alone, we could secure the delivery of ecosystem services worth US$5 trillion a year
- the inclusion of Natural Capital in governmental and business accounting can start to redress inaction and reduce future losses
- Ecosystems produce multiple services and these interact in complex ways, with different services being interlinked
- Close to 40% of pharmaceuticals used in the US are either based on, or synthesized from, natural compounds found in plants, animals, or microorganisms
- Humans use at least 40,000 species of plants and animals on a daily basis for food, shelter, clothing and medicinal needs
- In an increasingly globalized world, many aspects of our world are changing on a constant basis.
- One way to deal with these changes are for policy makers to take a precautionary approach and develop a deeper understanding of the interwoven effects of climate and ecosystem change
- Building ‘resilience thinking’ into policy and practice will be a major task for all of the world’s citizens throughout the next century