New report sets out the business case for biodiversity and ecosystem services

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is a global study, initiated by the G8 and five major developing economies and focusing on ‘the global economic benefit of biological diversity, the costs of the loss of biodiversity and the failure to take protective measures versus the costs of effective conservation’. TEEB makes the case for integrating the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services in decision-making.

This new report summarizes a major component of TEEB aimed at the business community, and sets out the business case for biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES).

According to the TEEB website, "Business and enterprise have a huge role to play in how we manage, safeguard and invest in our natural capital. This report is aimed squarely at this sector and will provide practical guidance on the issues and the opportunities created by the inclusion in mainstream business practices of ecosystem- and biodiversity-related considerations. This report is for a wide array of enterprises, including those with direct impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity, such as mining, oil and gas and infrastructure; for those businesses that depend on healthy ecosystems and biodiversity for production, such as agriculture and fisheries; for industry sectors that finance and undergird economic activity and growth, like banks and asset managers, as well as insurance and business services; and for businesses that are selling ecosystem services or biodiversity-related products such as eco-tourism, eco-agriculture and bio-carbon."

The report, including an executive summary, is available from the TEEB website.