Nature a blind spot in economics, report says

Urgent and transformative change is needed to protect and enhance global prosperity and the natural world, a landmark review on the Economics of Biodiversity has concluded.

The recent report from Cambridge University suggests new measures of economic success are required, and says prosperity has come at a "devastating" cost to nature.

Cambridge economist Partha Dasgupta, who conducted the review, proposes "recognizing nature as an asset and reconsidering our measures of economic prosperity".

He said: "Truly sustainable economic growth and development means recognizing 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. Nature is our home. Good economics demands we manage it better."

Significant declines in biodiversity are "undermining the productivity, resilience and adaptability of nature", the review argues. This has put our "economies, livelihoods and well-being at risk", it adds.

Setting agenda

The review was commissioned by the United Kingdom's Treasury department, and is the first time a national finance ministry has authorized "a full assessment of the economic importance of nature", The Guardian said.

BBC News said the review is expected to "set the agenda on government policy going forward".

The UK will host the United Nations climate summit, or COP26, in Glasgow in November. Policymakers are also planning for this year's UN Biodiversity Conference COP15, due to be hosted in Kunming, Yunnan, in May.

In a statement, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "We are going to make sure the natural world stays right at the top of the global agenda."

The review urges governments to find alternatives to GDP national accounting that include the depletion of natural resources.

In a foreword, renowned naturalist David Attenborough, wrote that it was "immensely important", and showed "how by bringing economics and ecology face to face, we can help to save the natural world and in doing so save ourselves".