Nature Journal Editorial Utilizes IPBES Knowledge as it Calls to Improve Tracking and Statistics on Global Biodiversity

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) In Nature journal's October 2023 edition, authors called for "incorporating the costs of biodiversity loss into economic planning," saying that "properly resourcing national statistical offices to coordinate environmental accounts" is "essential" to achieve the SDGs. The authors cite the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) as an example of "integrating environmental indicators more closely with economic ones."

"In 2019, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) — an organization similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — reported that ecological communities on land have lost more than 20% of their original biodiversity, and that millions of terrestrial species are likely to become extinct by 2100," wrote the authors, citing the IPBES Global Assessment (2019). "The costs of environmental damage, such as biodiversity loss, rarely factor into countries’ official calculations of income and wealth," reads the editorial.

The journal issued a call to action urging experts and researchers to comment on the next revision of the UN Statistics Division's System of National Accounts (SNA).