'Stern Review' of Biodiversity Reports

The preliminary findings of the EU-funded review into the economics of biodiversity loss, the so-called 'Stern Review' of Biodiversity, were unveiled yesterday at the 9th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (Teeb) review has found that global GDP could decline by 7% by 2050 if ecosystem degradation is not tackled. Mankind is causing almost £4obn of damage to terrestrial ecosystems each year. The leader of the study, Pavan Sukhdev, warns that "urgent remedial action is essential because species loss and ecosystem degradation are inextricably linked to human well-being". The report warns that the world's fisheries are likely to collapse within the next 50 years if current trends are not reversed.

The final results of the study will be reported at CBD COP-10 in 2010.

As part of the COP meeting, which draws to a close today, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, launched a 'Life Web' initiative, which provides financial and technical assistance to those developing countries in a position to provide protected areas on land or sea. Indonesia has declared it will designate 20million hectares of its territory as marine protected areas, establishing the largest marine protected area in the world.

See a webcast of the 'Life Web' side-event at the COP CBD meeting - 25 May 2008.