The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) believes that the economic and social value of our natural capital must be remembered when representatives of 200 countries meet in Nagoya to discuss how to stem the rate of biodiversity loss, despite coming at a time when most countries are more focused on the strength of their economies.
The global economic downturn was heralded as a great opportunity to change things for the better, providing an opportunity to build new economies based on greener infrastructure and principles. However, the draft declaration of the Convention on Biological Diversity 2010 acknowledged that the targets set at the 2002 summit were summarily missed. It warns that without significant changes there may be increased rates of species extinction, and even possible ecosystem collapse if certain thresholds are crossed. CIWEM believes that business as usual is clearly not an option.
Clearly more concerted effort is required to halt the rate of decline in biodiversity. Central to this is full and proper recognition of the value provided to humankind by this biodiversity resource. The scale of the economic and social value of ecosystem services is slowly being recognised but this growing understanding must be matched quickly by political will to put in place the structures required to ensure that biodiversity is respected as being more economically valuable alive than extinct.
CIWEM’s latest Policy Position Statement on Deforestation emphasises this, urging the value of rainforests as the most biologically rich ecosystems on the planet to be better recognised, utilising an ecosystems approach. CIWEM highlights Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman’s statement that the global cost of one year’s worth of deforestation is estimated at between $2 and $5 trillion, and in the long term our natural capital is just as important to our economy as our human and financial capital.
This vast monetary value demonstrates why conserving and enhancing our natural capital should be prioritised as quickly and robustly as other cost-saving measures that Governments around the world are currently implementing.
CIWEM Executive Director Nick Reeves says: “It would be a tremendous signal if representatives of 200 countries can agree a 2020 target to significantly reduce losses in biological diversity. We must hope that the failure to agree a target for 2010 will provide the impetus to act this time. In these straightened times, the world must recognize that a strong economic future is reliant on a strong ecological future. Simply, we must assign ecology, biodiversity, and the services it provides us, with a value and stature commensurate with its importance to our economies. Despite a difficult economic climate, developed countries must contribute sufficient resources to help developing countries play their part.”
The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, CIWEM, is an independent professional body and a registered charity, advancing the science and practice of water and environmental management for a clean, green and sustainable world. www.ciwem.org
Source: CIWEM
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