Loss of nature

The Guardian - According to an assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the ongoing loss of nature poses a systemic risk to the global economy. Its findings echo much of what we already know: governments subsidise activities driving nature’s destruction by $2.4tn (£1.8tn) each year. In 2023, an estimated $7.3tn of public and private finance flowed into business activities that are harmful to nature, while just $220bn goes to activities that conserve biodiversity.

“The loss of biodiversity is among the most serious threats to business,” said Prof Stephen Polasky, co-chair of the IPBES assessment. “The twisted reality is that it often seems more profitable to businesses to degrade biodiversity than to protect it. Business as usual may once have seemed profitable in the short term, but impacts across multiple businesses can have cumulative effects, aggregating to global impacts, which can cross ecological tipping points.”

Despite the risks, there is little sign that humanity is responding with the urgency that the science demands. With a few notable exceptions, warnings about the consequences of nature loss for business have gone unheeded. Less than 1% of public companies mention biodiversity in their company impact reports, according to the assessment.