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Banking crisis pales in comparison with ecological crisis
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Banking crisis pales in comparison with ecological crisis
The financial crisis has given a new meaning to ?funny money?. According to the Bank of England, the global meltdown will cost the world?s financial institutions a staggering $2.8 trillion, or, for the mathematically-minded, $ 2 800 000 000 000! Small wonder then, that it?s been hogging all the headlines for the past few weeks.
What is slightly less palatable is that the costs exacted yearly by human activities on the natural world exceeds those currently incurred as a result of the greed and incompetence of the financial sector. The Economics of ecosystems and biodiversity (TEEB), a study commissioned by the European Union, estimates that forest loss costs the world between $2 trillion and $5 trillion. Contrarily to the financial crisis, however, this tragedy doesn?t have world leaders desperately devising ?rescue packages?.
Although some dispute the ethics of evaluating the services rendered by the world?s ecosystems and biodiversity in basely monetary terms, it definitely drives home their immense importance and worth. Many people hope that TEEB will spur governments into acting decisively to protect their ecosystems and biodiversity, the way the Stern report did for climate change.
The financial crisis has, however, put such considerations on the backburner as politicians scramble to save a system that has proved patently unfit for self-regulation. Some of the factors taken into account by TEEB include ?food production, water regulation and climate change resilience?. The report also recognizes that biodiversity conservation comes at a price too. It says that $45 billion should be invested yearly to ?protect natural services worth some $5 trillion?, before pointing out that this constitutes ?an extremely good benefit-cost ratio of 100:1?.
Faced with extinction</B>
In his preface to TEEB, study leader Pavan Sukhdev posits that the demands of the capitalist system as conceived by Wealth of Nations author Adam Smith is completely simple too. ?Two and a quarter centuries ago, land was plentiful, energy was not a major factor of production, and the scarce input to production was financial capital. How times have changed. Adam Smith designed his thinking framework for economics in a world in which global capital and trade were measured in millions, not trillions, of dollars. GDP growth created jobs, avoided recessions, and has thus become a preferred yardstick for progress. However, GDP growth does not capture many vital aspects of national wealth and wellbeing, such as changes in the quality of health, the extent of education, and changes in the quality and quantity of our natural resources.?
The publication of TEEB coincided with that of new research in Science magazine showing that one mammal species out of five faces extinction. Deforestation, overexploitation and climate change were some of the factors cited as being responsible for this global crisis. The situation is bound to get much worse unless these issues are addressed.
This is confirmed by TEEB. ?In the last 300 years, the global forest area has shrunk by approximately 40%. Forests have completely disappeared in 25 countries, and another 29 countries have lost more than 90% of their forest cover.? The decline continues (FAO 2001; 2006). ?Since 1900, the world has lost about 50% of its wetlands. While much of this occurred in northern countries during the first 50 years of the 20th century, there has been increasing pressure since the 1950s for conversion of tropical and sub-tropical wetlands to alternative land use.? (Moser et al. 1996).
Reducing carbon emissions</B>
?Some 30%of coral reefs ? which frequently have even higher levels of biodiversity than tropical forests ? have been seriously damaged through fishing, pollution, disease and coral bleaching (Wilkinson 2004). In the past two decades, 35% of mangroves have disappeared. Some countries have lost up to 80% through conversion for aquaculture, overexploitation and storms (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005a). The human-caused (anthropogenic) rate of species extinction is estimated to be 1,000 times more rapid than the ?natural? rate of extinction typical of Earth?s long-term history (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005b).?
Apart from throwing a 1929 Wall Street crash-size spanner in the works, the current crisis will further detract decision-makers from the pressing issue of climate change. Since assuming the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, France?s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has attempted to give renewed impetus to efforts aiming to reduce carbon emissions. His ambition of achieving a 20% reduction of European greenhouse gases by 2020 has been dealt a blow by a report published yesterday in which the Australian economist Ross Garnaut affirms that carbon emissions have increased by 3% every year since 2000 and will continue to do so until 2030. The figures revealed by Ross Garnaut?s are graver than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?s (IPCC) ?worst-case scenario? which puts emissions at 2.5%.
As a World Conservation Union (IUCN) biodiversity hotspot and Small Island Developing State, Mauritius is directly concerned by both species loss and climate change.
According to the IUCN 2008 Red list, Mauritius counts no less than 219 endangered plant and animal species. Worse yet, 65 plant species and 10 animal species are considered to be ?critically endangered?.
With regards to climate change, the situation is just as stark. With ice sheets melting faster than predicted, sea-levels might rise faster than previously feared. Mauritius might not be as vulnerable as, say, the Maldives but it will definitely be affected by this phenomenon in decades to come. The only question is, how badly?
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