(Finance) – Since last February biodiversity – that is the variety of animal and plant species of our planet – has been included in the fundamental principles of our constitutional charter, alongside the protection of the environment and ecosystems. Thirty years ago it was the United Nations that drew attention to the issue with the adoption in 1992 of the Convention for Biological Diversity, entered into force on 29 December 1993 and ratified in Italy on 14 February 1994 with Law 124. It is a legally binding international treaty with three main objectives: conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of biodiversity, fair and equitable sharing of the benefits deriving from the use of genetic resources. Biodiversity was recently at the center of the world day established by the UN on May 22 – with, this year, the theme “building a shared future for all forms of life on Earth” – precisely to commemorate the adoption of the text of the Convention.
In the last few years biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming rate, mainly due to human activities such as changes in land use, pollution and climate change. Following the appeals of the European Parliament in January 2020, the European Commission presented the new EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, to address the main causes of biodiversity loss and establish legally binding targets. In June 2021, during the plenary session, the Parliament adopted its position on the “EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030: Bringing Nature Back into Our Lives” aimed at ensuring that by 2050 all ecosystems in the world are restored, resilient and adequately protected.
Although our country has been condemned by the EU Court of Justice for the levels of air pollution, on the front of investments for the protection of biodiversity – as emerges from the annual report on the state of health of living species, on the main risk factors and on the strategies to be adopted to deal with the loss of biological diversity by Legambiente – Italy is the first in Europewith over 1.7 billion euros which have financed more than 970 projects for the protection of nature, of which approximately 850 million have been allocated by the European Commission as co-financing. From 1992 to today, thanks to the Life program, born 30 years ago together with the Habitats Directive to achieve the objectives of EU legislation and policies on the environment and climate, – highlights Legambiente – over 5 thousand projects have been co-financed in Europe that have mobilized 12 billion euros of investments, of which 5.6 billion allocated by the European Commission as co-financing. In detail, among the species at the center of the Life projects that have been successful in Italy we find the lesser kestrel, the crested newt, the ivy moth, wild orchids, Apennine flowers and the Caretta caretta turtle.
As emerges from several studies the loss of biodiversity has a major impact on our lives, as well as from an environmental point of view, also from an economic point of view. “Human health and the health of ecosystems are inextricably linked and man is the main user – he explained Laura Mancini, Ecosystems and Health Laboratory Manager, Environment and Health Department, Higher Institute of Health on the occasion of the international conference “Nature in Mind” -. Altered environments cause just under 1 in 4 deaths globally. Healthy ecosystems keep us healthy and provide numerous services from water, to food, to clean air. They are a resource for traditional medicines and offer opportunities for the discovery of other molecules. Healthy ecosystems mitigate extreme events and natural disasters, can play a regulatory role in the transmission of infectious agents. Ecosystems and biodiversity have both intrinsic value and value for our economies. However – underlines Mancini – not all the value of biodiversity is reflected in GDP: there are significant non-market benefits, including recreational activities, water purification and carbon sequestration, which are not fully evaluated. Future scenarios predict that an increase in the world population to 8 billion by 2030 could lead to severe shortages of food, water and energy with, consequently, possible serious repercussions on health and the availability of resources. Avoidable environmental damage and loss of biodiversity threaten the health of the population. The loss of services provided by natural ecosystems will result in the need to find costly alternatives. Investments in our natural capital – concludes Mancini – will allow us to save in the long term and are therefore essential for our well-being and long-term survival “.
But what is biodiversity worth in numbers? Calculating the economic value of biodiversity is not simple but according to the Dead planet, living planet report published in 2010 by Unep (the United Nations Environment Program) can be estimated at 72 trillion dollars a year the value of the services that biodiversity and ecosystems provide to human beings.