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We've heard about TEEB before: the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project, and the increasing recognition that nature and biodiversity have substantial and quantifiable economic value.
The project's latest report shows yet again that caring for the environment and running a profitable company are not mutually exclusive practices—that, to the contrary, they boost each other and environmentally sound business practices can make for an economically sound balance sheet.
According to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers for TEEB, more than half of CEOs in some nations view nature loss as a challenge to business growth. That rate is much higher in South America than it is in much of Europe, a trend that coincides with another study showing that nations with high levels of biodiversity tend to view its preservation as more of a business priority than other nations.
From the TEEB 2010 executive summary:
TEEB has assembled much evidence that the economic invisibility of nature’s flows into the economy is a significant contributor to the degradation of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity. This in turn leads to serious human and economic costs which are being felt now, have been felt for much of the last half-century, and will be felt at an accelerating pace if we continue ‘business as usual’.
Agribusiness giant Syngenta was actually recognized as one of the "smart companies" for its Operation Pollinator scheme to restore habitat for the declining bee—which pollinates $10 billion worth of crops in the U.S. alone. Insects generally are estimated to contribute at least $57 billion to the U.S. economy annually, and $189 billion globally—an easy example of a service that nature provides for free and upon which we depend worldwide—and would have to find, and pay for, a replacement if we lost those ecosystem services.
The BBC reports that the first Global Business of Biodiversity symposium in London this week "will hear that about half of European and US consumers say they would stop buying products from companies that disregard biodiversity concerns."
More about TEEB and the economics of biodiversity:
Destroying Ecosytems is Bad Business, Big Companies Invest in Nature
What's Really Wrong with Our Oceans? Money, Politics, Greed, Money...
Study Shows Investing in Nature More Valuable than Gold (Literally)
World Governments Failing Their Biodiversity Commitments - Pressure On Species Just Increasing
