Nature Loss Affects Global Economy More Than Bank Crisis

A EU-commissioned study claims the global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis.The study puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion, a figure that comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide.The study, headed by a Deutsche Bank economist, parallels the Stern Review into the economics of climate change.The World Conservation Congress has discussed the issue during many sessions.Conservationists hope it will be a new way of persuading policymakers to fund nature protection rather than allowing the decline in ecosystems and species to continue.The study’s leader, Pavan Sukhdev, emphasized that the cost of natural decline dwarfs losses on the financial markets."It's not only greater but it's also continuous, it's been happening every year, year after year," he said."So whereas Wall Street by various calculations has to date lost, within the financial sector, $1-$1.5 trillion, the reality is that at today's rate we are losing natural capital at least between $2-$5 trillion every year."The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (Teeb), was a review initiated by Germany under its recent EU presidency, with the European Commission providing funding.Ending in May, the first phase released findings claiming forest decline could be costing about 7% of global GDP.

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