Biodiversité

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being1,2, addressing the global biodiversity crisis3 still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever4. Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)5 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals6, predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature7. Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change8, pandemic emergence9 and socio-environmental injustices10.

Alors que la prochaine décennie est annoncée comme cruciale pour stopper l'érosion de la biodiversité, l'enseignant-chercheur Gilles Bœuf et la sociologue Isabelle Arpin plaident pour que la préservation de la faune et de la flore soit enfin reconnue comme une priorité. Un dialogue organisé pour Sciences et Avenir - La Recherche 886, daté décembre 2020.

Les entreprises devraient être contraintes d'évaluer et rendre public l'impact de leurs activités sur la nature, ont réclamé mercredi plus de 300 sociétés dans une lettre ouverte aux dirigeants du monde, à l'approche de négociations cruciales des Nations unies pour stopper le déclin catastrophique de la biodiversité.

The idea of valuing nature has become a core element of contemporary sustainable development and green economy agendas. This has been enabled by the widespread acceptance of the ‘ecosystems services’ concept, which tries to capture the value of the environment for human wellbeing. As the ecosystems services concept becomes increasingly embedded in development planning and economic policy-making, it is imperative to understand the opportunities it creates for environmental conservation and social development, and its inherent tensions and limitations.