SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
'Recipe for Disaster': Group Says No Financialization of Nature!
Friends of the Earth International warns against corporate approach as UN biodiversity conference meets
Oct 13, 2012
The "financialization of nature" is a flawed approach to saving biodiversity, an environmental groups warns as representatives from over 170 countries meet at a United Nations biodiversity conference.
In the midst of the United Nations 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity, or COP 11, meeting in Hyderabad, India, from Oct. 8 to 19, Friends of the Earth International warns of the corporate approach of treating biodiversity as a market commodity.
"Biodiversity and forests are critical for the survival of people and the planet, and are thus priceless. Our biodiversity needs to be protected, not speculated on by reckless and unaccountable financial markets," says Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth International Coordinator of the Forests and Biodiversity Program.
Watchdog group Food & Water Watch has been part of the chorus against this market-based approach. "Much lauded by the banking industry, this 'financialization of nature' reduces the value of water and other life-giving resources to exchangeable financial instruments," the group explained earlier this year.
Rojas' comments comes on the heels of a report finding it would cost $76bn dollars annually to meet conservation targets. Environmental economist Donal McCarthy, who led the study, told the BBC that the amount is "just a fraction of what we as consumers spend on soft drinks each year which is almost half a trillion dollars - the total required for species and sites is less than half of what is paid out in bonuses to bankers on Wall street's biggest investment banks."
"Financialization of Nature, which many corporations are lobbying for, is a recipe for disaster. The takeover of biodiversity by the financial sector must be stopped," Rojas added.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The "financialization of nature" is a flawed approach to saving biodiversity, an environmental groups warns as representatives from over 170 countries meet at a United Nations biodiversity conference.
In the midst of the United Nations 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity, or COP 11, meeting in Hyderabad, India, from Oct. 8 to 19, Friends of the Earth International warns of the corporate approach of treating biodiversity as a market commodity.
"Biodiversity and forests are critical for the survival of people and the planet, and are thus priceless. Our biodiversity needs to be protected, not speculated on by reckless and unaccountable financial markets," says Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth International Coordinator of the Forests and Biodiversity Program.
Watchdog group Food & Water Watch has been part of the chorus against this market-based approach. "Much lauded by the banking industry, this 'financialization of nature' reduces the value of water and other life-giving resources to exchangeable financial instruments," the group explained earlier this year.
Rojas' comments comes on the heels of a report finding it would cost $76bn dollars annually to meet conservation targets. Environmental economist Donal McCarthy, who led the study, told the BBC that the amount is "just a fraction of what we as consumers spend on soft drinks each year which is almost half a trillion dollars - the total required for species and sites is less than half of what is paid out in bonuses to bankers on Wall street's biggest investment banks."
"Financialization of Nature, which many corporations are lobbying for, is a recipe for disaster. The takeover of biodiversity by the financial sector must be stopped," Rojas added.
The "financialization of nature" is a flawed approach to saving biodiversity, an environmental groups warns as representatives from over 170 countries meet at a United Nations biodiversity conference.
In the midst of the United Nations 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity, or COP 11, meeting in Hyderabad, India, from Oct. 8 to 19, Friends of the Earth International warns of the corporate approach of treating biodiversity as a market commodity.
"Biodiversity and forests are critical for the survival of people and the planet, and are thus priceless. Our biodiversity needs to be protected, not speculated on by reckless and unaccountable financial markets," says Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth International Coordinator of the Forests and Biodiversity Program.
Watchdog group Food & Water Watch has been part of the chorus against this market-based approach. "Much lauded by the banking industry, this 'financialization of nature' reduces the value of water and other life-giving resources to exchangeable financial instruments," the group explained earlier this year.
Rojas' comments comes on the heels of a report finding it would cost $76bn dollars annually to meet conservation targets. Environmental economist Donal McCarthy, who led the study, told the BBC that the amount is "just a fraction of what we as consumers spend on soft drinks each year which is almost half a trillion dollars - the total required for species and sites is less than half of what is paid out in bonuses to bankers on Wall street's biggest investment banks."
"Financialization of Nature, which many corporations are lobbying for, is a recipe for disaster. The takeover of biodiversity by the financial sector must be stopped," Rojas added.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.