Biodiversity loss is emerging as a systemic risk to the global economy and financial stability, a landmark report said on Monday, urging companies to act now or potentially face extinction themselves.
The assessment by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, three years in the making and signed off by more than 150 governments, is expected to guide policymaking across multiple sectors.
Written by 79 experts worldwide, the report pointed to “inadequate or perverse” incentives, weak institutional support and enforcement, and “significant” data gaps as key obstacles to progress.
It builds on a 2024 pledge by countries to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030, followed last year by a plan to spend $200 billion on the effort – still far short of the finance flowing into activities that damage nature.
Despite the need for “transformative change”, $7.3 trillion in public and private funds was going to nature-harming activities, the authors said, citing 2023 data.
“This Report draws on thousands of sources, bringing together years of research and practice into a single integrated framework that shows both the risks of nature loss to business, and the opportunities for business to help reverse this,” said Matt Jones (UK), one of three co-chairs of the assessment.
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