Specialists reproach that short-term economic benefit is privileged over nature

Angelica Enciso L.

Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, July 12, 2022, p. 9

In political and economic decisions, most of those that regulate life, the values ​​of nature are ignored or a very small fraction of it is taken, indicates the evaluation of the values ​​of the Intergovernmental Scientific-Normative Platform on Biological Diversity and Services of Ecosystems (IPBES). In the engine of many factors of unsustainability, short-term economic benefit has been privileged.

In an interview, Patricia Balvanera Levy, from the UNAM Ecosystem and Sustainability Research Institute, and one of the four evaluation presidents of the international organization, points out that the paradigm of well-being is economic growth and that is why the Lacandona jungle in oil palm plantations and others in grasslands, you have only this vision of nature.

exemplifies that if we have a river and we value it by the amount of fish, only the market price of the fish price is emphasized, only the commercial value, we need to assess where the river, the forest, the rain comes from, consider them as our home and more factors. Add that the values ​​involved have to do with considering that we are part of nature.

Another message of the report is that the values ​​that people have of nature vary a lot, in the case of Mexico, for example, in the north there are temperate forests, deserts, beaches; in the center, volcanoes; in the southeast, jungles. There are different human groups. The culture of the north is different from that of the center. People value nature differently. When the diversity of values ​​is not taken into account, there are socio-environmental conflicts and loss of biodiversity. The solution is that we need to understand the diversity of views.

There is a dominant global focus on seeing short-term profits and economic growth, often excluding consideration of multiple values ​​of nature in policy decisions. when analyzing possible future scenarios, it was found that degrowth, guardians of nature, green growth and nature conservation are based on common values, on intergenerational justice, and would lead us to stay within the limits that the planet allows..

Biodiversity mapping

The report also indicates that mapping biodiversity and seeing how profoundly transform societies to have a more positive vision, fairer and more sustainable futures, it has to do with the fact that decision-making processes must be opened up to accommodate all processes. IPBES presented this evaluation, carried out over four years by 82 experts from 47 countries, at the ninth plenary session that ended on July 9.