Biodiversity loss is not just an environmental crisis, it is becoming a direct threat to the world economy and financial stability. That is the message from the new report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ipbes), endorsed by more than 150 governments. The document highlights how the functioning of productive systems depends deeply on the services provided by ecosystems-from soil fertility to water availability, from pollination to climate regulation-and how their rapid degradation is creating structural vulnerabilities for businesses and markets.
Over the past two centuries, global economic growth has been accompanied by a gradual depletion of natural capital. Forests, fertile soils, wetlands and oceans continue to be exploited at rates that exceed their capacity to regenerate, while many essential ecosystem functions are in decline. The problem is no longer just environmental: reduced biodiversity increases the risk of disruptions in supply chains, makes agricultural systems more unstable, exacerbates exposure to extreme weather events, and contributes to new social and economic pressures.
In essence, for many decades we have accepted imagined environmental damage to the future in exchange for immediate economic benefit. But now that we have learned to reckon, we have realized that environmental damage has a measure that threatens the stability of our economies and the maintenance of our welfare levels. And that economic damage is no longer a future prospect but a fact of the present, the thread of continuity that ties together many of the crises we experience: from wars over oil and critical raw materials to conflicts over water, from tensions around deglaciating lands to battles over water.
Economic sectors increasingly exposed
According to the analysis, sectors such as agriculture, construction, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and the food industry are among the most vulnerable to the effects of biodiversity loss, but the risk actually affects the entire global economy. Even businesses that do not directly use natural resources are exposed through their supply chains, which are increasingly dependent on healthy ecosystems and stable raw materials over time. The report also points out that this threat is still largely underestimated in business strategies: only a tiny proportion of companies make detailed information public about their impacts on biodiversity or the dependence of business models on ecosystem services.
A critical element concerns global financial flows. In 2023, about $7.3 trillion of public and private resources went to activities with negative impacts on nature, including environmentally harmful subsidies and investments in high-impact sectors, while only about $220 billion was directed to the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of biodiversity. This financial imbalance makes it more difficult to achieve international goals, including the commitment to protect 30 percent of land and marine areas by 2030, one of the pillars of global strategies to safeguard ecosystems.
The need for transformative change
Ipbes experts point to the need for a profound change in economic models and public policy. Priorities include reviewing environmentally harmful subsidies, integrating the value of nature into accounting and financial systems, adopting measurable corporate biodiversity targets, and strengthening monitoring and transparency systems. Technological and organizational innovation, along with the development of products and services with lower environmental impact, is also seen as a key lever for reducing the economic risks associated with ecosystem degradation. Protecting ecosystems means, increasingly, protecting the very foundations of the global economy.
