“We, the human species, currently invest trillions year in infrastructure, defense, health care, education, and many other societal priorities yet we seem unwilling to invest the £500 billion needed annually to secure the natural life-systems upon which we and all life ultimately depend. Some call this willful neglect, others criminal negligence – but whatever it is, it must stop. We urge countries around the world to aggressively pursue the path to nature recovery now. We can no longer wait until the next catastrophe hits and jeopardizes the future of our children and our children’s children.”
Will Travers OBE, President of Born Free
Why We Care
Nature Is in Crisis
The natural world is in crisis and without a swift and bold response, our planet will rapidly reach the point of no return, where natural resources will be so depleted that they will no longer be able to sustain life on Earth.
The wave of environmental destruction is now affecting the resources and ecosystem services on which all living things – including humans – depend for survival, such as clean air and water, food resources, carbon sequestration, and climate change mitigation. The impact of this wave of destruction on wildlife species has now reached cataclysmic proportions with more than a million species facing possible extinction in the coming decades.
COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has its origins in wildlife exploitation, is a brutal reminder that all living beings, including humans, share the same potential fate. Fragmentation, degradation, destruction, and loss of functional, natural ecosystems, combined with human activities that bring growing numbers of people into direct contact with wildlife must be prevented as a matter of urgency to protect humans and wild species.
Current Financial Investment in Nature is Insufficient
Nature is an asset that needs to be valued appropriately and managed effectively. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that the annual required cost for safeguarding nature is around $300 – 400 billion USD. Currently, annual funding allocated to nature recovery programs is far less than this, at approximately $50 billion USD.
To combat the growing biodiversity and extinction crisis, financial investment in nature must become a global investment priority and funds increased accordingly.
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