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This post was originally published in 2008. It does not necessarily represent my complete views on this matter.
I quite like that the environmental movement is so broad that there is room for everyone from senior executives at places like Deutsche Bank to grassroots activists, making their surrounding communities better places. While the word ‘holistic’ has plenty enough connotations to prevent me using it very much, it does quite aptly describe the movement.
Thanks to the Stern Report, a strong economic case was put forward for the long-term financial benefits of acting against climate change. Now, the interim report of the Teeb Review, prepared by Pavan Sukhdev, has put the facts behind the argument that environmental degradation costs us financially, as well as in other less measurable ways. By establishing the link between specific issues, such as resource scarcity and conflict, or biodiversity and agricultural returns, the report hopes to persuade leaders to incorporate the cost of environmental issues into their economies.
The only slight problem that I can see just now is that nobody really seems to be in the mood to start paying for things that, up to now, have been externalised.