For World Environment Day 2021, we're putting ecosystem restoration on a pedestal

 For World Environment Day 2021, we're putting ecosystem restoration on a pedestal

Reimagine, reimagine, reimagine, reimagine, reimagine, reimagin These are the themes of World Environment Day 2021, which takes place on June 5th, and is intended to draw the attention of investors, businesses, governments, and communities to the growing urgency of restoring the Earth's ecosystems.

At a time when we can least afford it, ecosystem degradation is depriving the globe of carbon sinks like forests and peatlands. For the third year in a row, global greenhouse gas emissions have increased.

The appearance of COVID-19 has served as a stark reminder of the devastating implications of ecosystem loss: The degradation of natural habitats for animals gives excellent circumstances for infections like coronaviruses to thrive.

ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUT WHY DOES IT REALLY MEAN SOMETHING?

There are compelling motivations to restore ecosystems. Aside from the inherent worth of biodiverse, functioning ecosystems, they also serve as the foundation for many of our operations, as we discussed in our recent blog post. Rebalancing human usage of ecosystem services like pollination, flood protection, and CO2 sequestration, as well as nature's capability to deliver them, is critical to our long-term success.

At least in part, half of the world's GDP is reliant on ecosystem services. The deterioration of these services exposes businesses to substantial risk, ranging from poorer profits and the possibility of default to increased insurance obligations. Simply said, the collapse of the ecology will lead to the collapse of the economy.