A couple of weeks ago I made reference to disappearing forests through illegal cutting. Here’s an interesting story from the BBC about the financial consequences of habitat loss:

“So whereas Wall Street by various calculations has to date lost, within the financial sector, $1-$1.5 trillion, the reality is that at today’s rate we are losing natural capital at least between $2-$5 trillion every year.”

Key to understanding his conclusions is that as forests decline, nature stops providing services which it used to provide essentially for free.

Just as the Stern Review brought the economics of climate change into the political arena and helped politicians see the consequences of their policy choices, many in the conservation community believe the Teeb review will lay open the economic consequences of halting or not halting the slide in biodiversity.

Don’t expect anything to change. According to the Guardian, European Union members might use the economic crisis to renege on climate change commitments.