Paradise Preoccupied

This story from the BBC today inspires such a huge DUH!!!!! that I almost didn’t bother to read it, but having dragged my eyes over the copy I can’t let it go without comment.

Businesses can and should take a key role in stemming biodiversity loss around the world, a report concludes.

The latest report from The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (Teeb) project argues that many sectors have a stake in protecting nature.

Throwing money at getting numbers is a way to keep people employed, however, … just see what a good job the UN does counting poor people … and seeing that the final report is for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity there’s a lot riding on this. After all, shouldn’t someone be counting the beans trying to figure out why in 2010 living up to pledges made in 2002 hasn’t happened.

Not that it will make one bit of difference, but it will provide an occasion for loads of folks to fly First Class to Japan, break out the dressy duds, and come up with more impressive-sounding initiatives like Redd (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) that may … or may not … someday see the light of day through the UN climate convention.

That it takes a report to make the point that nature is vital feels like arrogant idiocy, and I can’t help but wonder what it cost to learn that, “… in some nations, more than half of CEOs see nature loss as a challenge to business growth.”

With only two of the world’s largest 100 companies seeing biodiversity and ecosystem loss as “a strategic issue”, who in hell do these folks think they’ll be selling their products to? Perhaps the idea that plastic can lead to more plastic and that’s a good thing is not a thought stuck in the 1950s?

As floods ravage, droughts reek havoc, famine extends its grasp … not to mention millions of gallons of toxic oil spewing into the sea killing everything in its disgusting wake … Deutsche Bank economist Pavan Sukhdev gets himself all jazzed thinking, “We can move to a stage where big companies and countries are able to say ‘we’re meeting 20% of our emissions targets’ or whatever it might be through investing in green carbon.”

Yeah. That’ll do it.