Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-4n89n Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-22T21:18:40.848Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Do we really care about biodiversity?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2009

By
David W. Pearce
Edited by
Andreas Kontoleon ,
Unai Pascual  and
Timothy Swanson
David W. Pearce
Affiliation:
Professor in Environmental Economics, University College London, London, UK
Andreas Kontoleon
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Unai Pascual
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Timothy Swanson
Affiliation:
University College London
Get access

Summary

Introduction: the issue

The world community is allegedly very concerned about the fate of the world's biological diversity. Evidence for this concern arises from the ratification of various international treaties on biodiversity conservation. Among these are the truly global treaties: the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling 1946; the International Convention for the Protection of Birds 1950; the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (the ‘Ramsar Convention’) 1971; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 1973; the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals 1979; and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992. Details of all these conventions and the various regional treaties can be found in Sands et al. (1994). Equally relevant treaties affecting biodiversity less directly are the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) 1992 and its first Protocol, the Kyoto Protocol of 1997; and the Convention to Combat Desertification 1994. Barrett (2003) lists over 300 international conventions relating to the environment in one form or another. Barrett states that only one treaty ‘offers a comprehensive approach to biodiversity conservation. This is the Biodiversity Convention’ (Barrett 2003, p. 350).

But just how serious is the world in respect of biodiversity conservation? We argue that the only true indicators of concern must relate to action taken. Rhetoric about the fate of the world's environments is politically cheap unless the electorate calls the politician to account.

Type
Chapter
Information
Biodiversity Economics
Principles, Methods and Applications
 , pp. 22 - 54
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alexander, A., List, J., Margolis, M. and d'Arge,, R. 1998. A method for valuing global ecosystem services. Ecological Economics. 27. 161–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, T. and Hill, P. (eds.). 1995. Wildlife in the Marketplace. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Balmford, A., Bruner, A., Cooper, P., Costanza, R., Farber, S., Green, R., Jenkins, M., Jefferiss, P., Jessamy, V., Madden, J., Munro, K., Myers, N., Naeem, S., Paavaola, J., Rayment, M., Rosendo, S., Roughgarden, J., Trumper, K. and Turner, R. 2002. Economic reasons for conserving wild nature. Science. 297. 950–953.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balmford, A., Gaston, K., Blyth, S., James, A. and Kapos, V. 2003. Global variation in terrestrial conservation costs, conservation benefits, and unmet conservation needs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100 (3). 1046–1050.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barrett, S. 2003. Environment and Statecraft: the Strategy of Environmental Treaty Making. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, S. 2004. Kyoto plus. In Helm, D. (ed.). Climate Change Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bockstael, N., Freeman, A. M., Kopp, R., Portney, P. and Smith, V. K. 2000. On valuing Nature. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. 34 (8). 1384–1389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brouwer, R., Langford, I., Bateman, I. and Turner, R. K. 1999. A meta-analysis of wetland contingent valuation studies. Regional Environmental Change. 1 (1). 47–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chape, S., Blyth, S., Fish, L., Fox, P. and Spalding, M. 2003. 2003 United Nations List of Protected Areas. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and Cambridge, UK: World Conservation and Monitoring CentreGoogle Scholar
Chomitz, K., Brenes, E. and Constantino, L. 1998. Financing Environmental Services: The Costa Rican Experience and its Implications. Washington DC: World Bank, mimeo. kchomitz@worldbank.orgGoogle Scholar
Coase, R. 1960. The problem of social cost. Journal of Law and Economics. 3. 1–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costanza, R., d'Arge, R., Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., Limburg, K., Naeem, S., O'Neill, R., Paruelo, J., Raskin, R., Sutton, P. and Belt, M. 1997. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature. 387. 253–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dirzo, R. and Raven, P. 2003. Global state of biodiversity and loss. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 28. 137–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, V. 1995. Dealing in Diversity: America's Market for Nature Conservation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organisation. 2001. Forest Resources Assessment 2000. Rome: FAO.
Horton, B., Colarullo, G., Bateman, I. and Peres, C. 2003. Evaluating non-user willingness to pay for large-scale conservation programs in Amazonia. A UK/Italian contingent valuation study. Environmental Conservation. 30 (2). 139–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutton, J. and Dickson, B. (eds.). 2000. Endangered Species, Threatened Convention: the Past, Present and Future of CITES. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
James, A., Gaston, K. and Balmford, A. 1999. Balancing the Earth's accounts. Nature. 401. 323–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, A., Gaston, K. and Balmford, A. 2001. Can we afford to conserve biodiversity?BioScience. 51 (1). 43–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramer, R. and Mercer, E. 1997. Valuing a global environmental good: US residents’ willingness to pay to protect tropical rain forests. Land Economics. 73. 196–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krebs, C. 1994. Ecology. 4th Edition. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Langholz, J., Lassoie, J., Lee, D. and Chapman, D. 2000. Economic considerations of privately owned parks. Ecological Economics. 33. 173–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langholz, J. and Lassoie, J. 2001. Perils and promise of privately owned protected areas. Bioscience. 51. 1079–1085.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lapham, N. and Livermore, R. 2003. Striking a Balance. Ensuring Conservation's Place on the International Biodiversity Assistance Agenda. Washington DC: Conservation International.
Lindzen, R. 1994. On the scientific basis for global warming scenarios. Environmental Pollution. 83. 125–134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lomborg, B. (ed.). 2004. Global Crises, Global Solutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopez, R. 1998. Where development can or cannot go: the role of poverty-environment linkages. In , B. Pleskovic and , J. Stiglitz (eds.). Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics 1997. Washington DC: The World Bank Press. 285–306.Google Scholar
Matthews, E. 2001. Understanding the Forest Resources Assessment 2000. Washington DC: World Resources Institute.Google Scholar
Nature. 1998. Audacious bid to value the planet whips up a storm. Nature. 395. 430.CrossRef
Norton-Griffiths, M. and Southey, C. 1995. The opportunity costs of biodiversity conservation in Kenya. Ecological Economics. 12. 125–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Neill, B. and Oppenheimer, M. 2002. Dangerous climate impacts and the Kyoto Protocol. Science. 296. 1971–1972.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearce, D. W. 1998. Auditing the Earth. Environment. 40 (2). March. 23–28.Google Scholar
Pearce, D. W. 2003. Will global warming be controlled? Reflections on the irresolution of humankind. In Pethig, R. and Rauscher, M. (eds.). Challenges to the World Economy: Festschrift for Horst Siebert. Berlin: Springer Verlag. 367–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, D. W. 2004. Environmental market creation: saviour or oversell?Portuguese Economic Journal. 3 (2). 115–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, D. W. and Moran, D. 1994. The Economic Value of Biodiversity. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
Pearce, D. W. and Pearce, C. 2001. The Value of Forest Ecosystems. Montreal: Convention on Biological Diversity. www.biodiv.org/doc/publications/cbd-ts-04.pdfGoogle Scholar
Pearce, D. W., Atkinson, G. and Mourato, S. 2005. Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Environment: Recent Developments. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.Google Scholar
Pimentel, D., Wilson, C., McCullum, C., Huang, R., Dwen, P., Flack, J., Tran, Q., Saltman, T. and Cliff, B. 1997. Economics and environmental benefits of biodiversity. BioScience. 47. 747–757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pimm., S., Russell, G., Gittleman, J. and Brooks, T. 1995. The future of biodiversity. Science. 269. 347–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richards, J. 1990. Land transformation. In Turner, B., Clark, W., Kates, R., Richards, J., Mathews, J. and Meyer, W.. The Earth as Transformed by Human Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 163–178.Google Scholar
Ruitenbeek, J. 1992. The rainforest supply price: a tool for evaluating rainforest conservation expenditures. Ecological Economics. 6 (1). 57–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandler, T. 1997. Global Challenges: an Approach to Environmental, Political and Economic Problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sands, P., Tarasofsky, R. and Weiss, M. (eds.). 1994. Documents in International Environmental Law. Volumes Ⅰ and Ⅱ. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Simon, J. 1981. The Ultimate Resource. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Simon, J. 1986. Theory of Population and Economic Growth. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Simon, J. 1995. The State of Humanity. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Simon, J. and Kahn, H. 1984. The Resourceful Earth. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Stork, N. 1999. The magnitude of global biodiversity and its decline. In Cracraft, J. and Grifo, F. (eds.). The Living Planet in Crisis: Biodiversity, Science and Policy. New York: Columbia University Press. 3–32.Google Scholar
Sudo, T. 2003. A Study of International Financial Instruments for Global Conservation: Debt for Nature Swaps and the Clean Development Mechanism. Master's Thesis in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, University College London.Google Scholar
Sutton, P. and Costanza, R. 2002. Global estimates of market and non-market values derived from nighttime satellite imagery, land cover, and ecosystem service valuation. Ecological Economics. 41. 509–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, R. K., Pavavola, J., Cooper, P., Farber, S., Jessamy, V. and Georgiou, S. 2003. Valuing nature: lessons learned and future research directions. Ecological Economics. 46. 493–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kooten, C. 1998. Economics of conservation biology: a critical review. Environmental Science and Policy. 1. 13–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Schaik, C., Terborgh, J. and Dugelby, B. 1997. The silent crisis: the state of rain forest nature preserves. In Kramer, R., Schaik, C. and Johnson, J. (eds.). Last Stand: Protected Areas and the Defense of Tropical Biodiversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 64–89.Google Scholar
Vitousek, P., Ehrlich, P., Ehrlich, A. and Matson, P. 1986. Human appropriation of the products of photosynthesis. BioScience. 36. 368–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vitousek, P., Mooney, H., Lubchenco, J. and Melillo, J. 1997. Human domination of Earth's ecosystems. Science. 277. 494–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whelan, T. (ed.). 1991. Nature Tourism: Managing for the Environment. Covelo, CA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Woodward, R. and Wui, Y- S. 2001. The economic value of wetland services: a meta-analysis. Ecological Economics. 37. 257–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank. 2002. Costing the 7th Millennium Development Goal: Ensure Environmental Sustainability. Environment Department and Development Economics Research Group. Washington DC: World Bank. (Restricted.)
World Resources Institute. 2003. World Resources 2002–2004. Decisions for the Earth – Balance, Voice and Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×