Biodiversity and ecosystem services

One of the fundamental principles underpinning the green economy is that economic activities should not unduly damage the environment. But what do we mean by ‘the environment’? Generally, when people use that term they are referring to the environment in which people live, which includes both living and non-living components. The living component is comprised of a multitude of plant, animal and microbial species, which form highly complex interacting communities, collectively referred to as biological diversity or ‘biodiversity’. There is great concern that we are currently experiencing a global biodiversity crisis, characterised by an exceptionally high rate of biodiversity loss, caused by human activities. Potentially, this could have major implications for the future of life on Earth, including human society. This is because human life depends on a number of ecological benefits, or ‘ecosystem services’, provided by biodiversity. There is a risk that the provision of such services could be undermined, or somehow fail, as a result of the biodiversity crisis.