Interim Report - TEEB

F O R E W O R D
Biological diversity represents the natural wealth of
the Earth, and provides the basis for life and
prosperity for the whole of mankind. However,
biodiversity is currently vanishing at an alarming rate, all
over the world. We are, so to speak, erasing nature’s hard
drive without even knowing what data it contains. The
aim of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and
its 190 Contracting Parties is to significantly reduce the
loss of biodiversity by 2010. This is an ambitious goal
which can only be achieved through the concerted efforts
and combined strength of all sections of society. We
therefore need both national and international alliances
between policy makers, science, the public and business.
Arising out of a discussion at the meeting of G8+5
environment ministers which took place in Potsdam in
May 2007, we decided to launch a joint initiative to draw
attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity
and the costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem
degradation.
The success of this joint initiative was always going to be
highly dependent on the quality of the leadership and for
this reason we have been particularly pleased that Pavan
Sukhdev, a Managing Director in the Global Markets
division at Deutsche Bank, and founder-Director of a “green
accounting” project for India, has accepted to take on the
role of Study Leader.
Pavan Sukhdev and his team have had an extremely
challenging task to bring together a lot of information in
such a short time. Fortunately, they have benefited from the
support and contribution of many international organizations
as well as prominent experts.
The results from Phase I of the initiative we launched in
Potsdam a year ago will be presented at the high-level
segment of CBD COP9. We invite and encourage CBD
Member Countries and international organizations to
contribute actively to Phase II of this work which will begin
immediately after COP9.
Stavros Dimas
Commissioner for Environment
European Commission
Sigmar Gabriel
Federal Environment Minister
Germany
Foreword
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