Biodiversity loss costs six percent of world income; biodiversity drops more than a quarter

Just as we are beginning to realize the incredible importance of biodiversity

Environmental damage and species loss costs between 1.35 and 3.1 trillion euros (2.1 to 4.8 trillion dollars) every year, according to a report released Thursday at a major UN conference on biodiversity…

“Though our wellbeing is totally dependent on these ‘ecosystem services’, they are predominantly public goods with no markets and no prices,” the report notes.

Principal author Pavan Sukhdev, who heads Deutsche Bank’s global markets business in India… said that by 2050, under a “business-as-usual” scenario, these catastrophes loom:

  • 11 percent of natural areas remaining in 2000 could be lost due to conversion to agriculture, development, and climate change;
  • 40 percent of land currently under low-impact agriculture could become intensively farmed, accelerate biodiversity losses;
  • 60 percent of coral reefs could be lost, directly affecting the livelihood of a billion people.

we also become aware of how much biodiversity we have already lost.

More than a quarter of the world’s wildlife has been lost in the last 35 years according to a WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) report, compiled by the ZSL (Zoological Society London) and launched today…

The declines are due to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution, overexploitation such as fishing, the spread of invasive species and climate change.

Hopefully these realizations will lead to more awareness and positive change in biodiversity conservation.

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