U.K. Government-Backed Review Issues Call To Account For Nature In Economic Thinking
Nature is our most precious asset, but with each passing day it is clear that humanity has not managed this global portfolio well. We face an ecosystem out of balance as a result of human choices and economic activity, and it’s time to reset our thinking and transform our financial institutions and our systems for a sustainable future. This is the call from an independent global review on the Economics of Biodiversity, commissioned by the U.K. Government, backed by H.M. Treasury, and published today .
Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta’s review calls for urgent and transformative change in how we think, act and measure economic success to protect and enhance both our prosperity and the natural world. “Nature is our home. Good economics demands we manage it better” said Professor Dasgupta, an Indian-British economist and a fellow of the Royal Academy.
“Truly sustainable economic growth and development means recognising that our long-term prosperity relies on rebalancing our demand of nature’s goods and services with its capacity to supply them. It also means accounting fully for the impact of our interactions with Nature across all levels of society. COVID-19 has shown us what can happen when we don’t do this” he said.
He will be joined by the Nobel-prize winning biologist Sir Venki Ramakrishnan to mark the publication of The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta review today, at a livestreamed event hosted by The Royal Society. It starts at 2pm London time and is free to all to register, join, and ask questions. The Review’s publication comes ahead of COP15 for biological diversity, where new long-term international targets to address biodiversity loss are expected to be agreed.
“This year is critical in determining whether we can stop and reverse the concerning trend of fast-declining biodiversity” said U.K .Prime Minister Boris Johnson, welcoming the Dasgupta review. “As co-host of COP26 and president of this year’s G7, we are going to make sure the natural world stays right at the top of the global agenda. And we will be leading by example here at home as we build back greener from the pandemic with my 10 point plan.”
Guests at the event today hosted by The Royal Society will include His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, the Prime Minister, and Sir David Attenborough.
“The survival of the natural world depends on maintaining its complexity, its biodiversity” said Sir David. “This comprehensive and immensely important report shows us how by bringing economies and ecology face to face , we can help to save the natural world and in doing so, save ourselves” he added. You can watch a video of Sir David Attenborough on the importance of biodiversity in a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) video from October 2020, here:
Sir David Attenborough via WWF and YouTube October 2020
The U.K. Government is expected to respond formally to the findings of this review, which it commissioned in Spring 2019, in due course.
But the changes it heralds will be watched across the world. The urgent and transformative action stressed by Professor Dasgupta’s review necessitate change across three broad fronts, all of which business should heed. They include:
Ensuring that humanity’s demands on nature don’t exceed sustainable supply demands. That means investment in nature-based solutions, expanding and improving the management of protected areas, and coming up with policies that discourage all damaging forms of consumption and production.
Introducing natural capital into national accounting systems, says the review, “is a critical step.” The trade-offs between investments in different assets need to be clarified. There is mention of adopting “different metrics for economic success” and moving towards “an inclusive measure of wealth.”
The review talks about transforming our institutions and systems, “particularly finance and education” to enable the change, and make it sustainable for future generations.
With the publication of this report, there will be a scramble of interpretation across business and finance because both need to change in a substantive way. How it comes together is a work in progress, but that’s also the way it happens when there is real change afoot.
Emma Howard-Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency and Adviser to the Board of Trade London 2021, credit: gov.uk
“This excellent report’s call to change our measures of economic success is about creating jobs fit for a greener world economy and longer-term, more steady, returns for investors with nature’s recovery at their core. As more and more countries look to green finance for an economic boost, there’s a race to mobilise trillions of dollars to reverse natural decline and manage climate shocks, like floods and droughts. Governments and companies everywhere should take a good look at their global supply chains and heed these recommendations” said Emma Howard-Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency and Adviser to the Board of Trade.
And to end on a personal note:
This blog took a look at Values, ESG and Ethical Investing in 2021, and Beyond - recently. It began : “The future is dependent on opportunity, but opportunity is what we make of it. Our values help determine the direction we take as human beings. It has taken a global pandemic and a public health crisis in 2020 to concentrate minds on the fragility and interdependence of our ecosystem. But the financial system is a human (and also a largely male) creation, one that has become disconnected from some of the fundamental values we hold.” On Board Talk and also in my writing on Forbes, I have long explored the rise and the reason of ESG issues and the overlap between the need for climate action, human action, and better corporate governance.
When, late last year, the U.K. government under Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced its intention to lead the G20 in becoming its first member to demand mandatory climate disclosures by large companies and financial institutions across its economy, Board Talk commented.
So much to do, so little time. Stay tuned.
Added February 2, 2021 . The full report : The Economics of Biodiversity : The Dasgupta Review.
Main image credit: Hamed Shakeri @hami_shakeri `on Unsplash
