Independent report

Independent Review on the Economics of Biodiversity: Terms of Reference

Published 14 August 2019

© Crown copyright 2019

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A healthy planet underpins a healthy economy. The objectives of this independent review will be to assess the economic benefits of biodiversity globally, assess the economic costs and risks of biodiversity loss, and identify a range of actions that can simultaneously enhance biodiversity and deliver economic prosperity.

This evidence should help shape the international and UK response to biodiversity loss, including the successors to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and inform global action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. The primary audiences for the review are economic and finance policy and decision-makers.

1. Examine the evidence on:

  • How biodiversity supports sustainable economic growth;
  • The implications of further biodiversity loss for the prospects for economic growth over the coming decades, taking into account the interaction with other aspects of environmental degradation, including climate change; and
  • The impact, effectiveness and efficiency of existing national and international actions and arrangements to limit and reverse the loss of biodiversity and their impact on economic growth.

2. Based on this evidence, provide an assessment of:

  • a range of scenarios for enhancing global biodiversity compared with business as usual, focusing on the medium to long-term perspective and the relationship with economic growth; and
  • the range of best practices, initiatives and interventions for industry, communities, individuals and governments that best achieve the simultaneous goals of enhancing biodiversity and delivering sustainable economic growth, drawing implications for the timescales for action and the range of scenarios above, and recognising the interactions with climate change mitigation and adaptation needs and opportunities.

3. Deliver a report to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ahead of the fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in China in October 2020, and ahead of the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in November 2020.

Collaboration and consultation will form an essential part of the review. The reviewer and supporting team are expected to partner with international collaborators to produce the review, and to consult with key stakeholders, internationally and domestically, to understand views and inform analysis.

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