"Biodiversity is a huge part of our economy and this is why it is even more surprising that the EU 2020 strategy does not pay proper attention to it," Long said.
The Commission's final draft 'Europe 2020' strategy was published yesterday (3 March).
Long referred to European Commission's own statements, according to which the annual loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services totals some €50 billion (EurActiv 20/01/10).
As for EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik, he said that "as an economist, I understand how biodiversity affects our economic prosperity". Commission estimates show that the cost of doing nothing to protect biodiversity by 2050 would be 7% of global GDP, he added.
The Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth mentions biodiversity merely as a means of addressing climate change. One of the strategy's flagship initiatives is entitled 'Resource-efficient Europe', but its main stated objective is to support the shift towards a resource-efficient and low-carbon economy.
"EU thinking is still driven by the response to climate change and economic needs to accommodate to low-carbon pathways," and fails to understand the importance of protecting biodiversity for its economic value, Long deplored.
Biodiversity cannot be framed merely as contributor to a more competitive economy, he added, and called for more investment in protecting and restoring nature instead.
The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity
In November 2009, the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), an initiative hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), published a report arguing that the cost of nature conservation is by far outweighed by societal and economic benefits (EurActiv 16/11/09).
The report stressed that destruction of nature has direct economic repercussions which are systematically underestimated, and that valuing ecosystems makes "economic sense". Therefore, it urged international policymakers to scale-up investments in the management and restoration of ecosystems and to value the economic capital of nature in decision-making.
To increase protection of biodiversity, the report argues that a price tag should be put on nature's different ecosystem services to make them visible to economies and society as a whole.
Businesses starting to realise role of nature
Pavan Sukhdev, study leader on TEEB and head of the Green Economy Initiative at UNEP, noted that for the first time, this year's Davos World Economic Forum put a special focus on biodiversity in several sessions.
"Finally the penny has dropped," he said, adding he was optimistic that the top economic forum's focus on biodiversity had represented "a change in trend" and stressed the importance of the corporate world in advancing biodiversity protection.
