Posts in ecological services
Fund nature protection now or face huge losses, says World Bank

Reuters

The global economy faces annual losses of $2.7 trillion by 2030 if ecological tipping points are reached and countries fail to invest more in protecting and restoring nature, the World Bank said on Thursday, calling for a greener COVID-19 recovery.

In its first “Economic Case for Nature” report, the bank looked at how many economies rely on biodiversity and how they would cope if certain services provided by nature collapsed. It found that sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia would be worst hit.

The study identified key “ecosystem services” that it said were close to tipping points, including wild pollinators and provision of food from marine fisheries and timber from native forests.

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conservation, ecological services, economy, economic prosperity, ecosystem services, finance, nature, nature-based solutionsSara Sheehyconservation, ecological services, economy, economic prosperity, ecosystem services, Finance, Nature, nature-based solutions
New World Bank Report: Protecting Nature Could Prevent Nearly $3 Trillion in Losses—With Low-Income Countries Benefiting Most

Campaign For Nature

July 1, 2021
A  World Bank report released today argues that policies safeguarding nature deliver a long list of valuable benefits, including pollination, food provision and timber from native forests, that deliver a win-win for biodiversity and economies. The Economic Case for Nature finds that if the world fails to protect nature, we could lose $2.7 trillion in global GDP annually, with countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia particularly hard hit.  

Building off recent reports laying out the economic benefits of protecting nature and following a major proclamation by G7 nations that protecting nature is an urgent priority, the report uses a first-of-its-kind analysis to reveal the extent to which valuing and protecting nature is a key development issue.

It makes the case that nature-smart policies that preserve ecosystem service benefits would increase global GDP by $50-150 billion compared to business as usual and reduce the risk of ecosystem collapse and an associated potential reduction in GDP of 2.3%. Other reports have highlighted additional benefits of protecting nature, including the expansion of nature-based tourism, which is an important source of economic growth in many developing countries. 

The report notes that ambitious targets, like the global effort to protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030, are achievable and play a crucial role in unlocking these benefits.  

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conservation, ecological services, economy, economic prosperity, ecosystem services, finance, nature, nature-based solutionsMary Pricefinancial value of nature, World Bank, economy, Nature, nature-based solutions, 30x30
Global resource consumption tops 100 billion tonnes for first time

Today

January 21, 2020
The world is using up more than 100 billion tonnes of natural resources per year for the first time ever while global recycling of raw materials has fallen, according to a report released Tuesday (Jan 21).

The share of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass feeding into the global economy that is reused declined in two years from an already paltry 9.1 per cent to 8.6 today, the Circularity Gap Report 2020 found.

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ecological services, sustainability, natural resourcesGuest Usernatural resources, sustainability, consumption
Half of World’s GDP Moderately or Highly Dependent on Nature, Says New Report

World Economic Forum

January 19, 2020
Businesses are more dependent on nature and biodiversity than expected, according to The New Nature Economy Report, released today.

Analysis of 163 industry sectors and their supply chains found that over half of the world’s GDP –$44 trillion of economic value generation – is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services and, as a result, exposed to risks from nature loss.

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biodiversity, ecological services, financeGuest UserFinance, Value of Nature, biodiversity
The human health benefits of conserving and restoring peatlands

UN Environment Programme

November 8, 2019
It is well known that peatlands matter for livelihoods, carbon storage, flood mitigation, and water quality, but a recent study has shown that peatlands also matter for human health.

The study suggests that thousands of deaths could be prevented over the next three decades across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore through improved land management to reduce the number and extent of peatland fires. The fires contribute to dangerous levels of particulate matter harmful to human health. Air quality near large population centres could improve significantly, saving lives, the study found.

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ecological services, human health, conservationGuest Userconservation, human health, benefits of protection, ecological services
What Are Ecosystem Services, and How Do They Help Our Planet?

Campaign For Nature

September 27, 2019
Protecting diverse ecosystems and the natural benefits that they provide is essential to the future of life on our planet and the well-being of humanity.

Those services, which are often called ecosystem services, include providing resources such as food and water, maintaining habitats that support biodiversity, offering opportunities for recreation, and helping to regulate human-caused impacts like climate change.

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conservation, habitat protection, ecological servicesGuest Userecological services, benefits of protection, conservation