Nature on the Balance Sheet

It's good to see a clear case for the importance of nature, set out by an eminent economist. Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, of Cambridge University, says we need "radical global changes to production, consumption, finance and education" (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/02/economics-failure-over-destruction-of-nature-presents-extreme-risks). Dasgupta maintains that any long-term human prosperity, depends on the species rebalancing its demands on nature's 'goods and services' as well as protecting the planet's capacity to supply them. Essentially, No functional Nature: No viable Economy. He points out that we have seen a 40% reduction in natural capital per human between 1992 and 2014. Clearly, we can't go on taking the planet's ecosystems for granted. Dasgupta illustrates the reduction, by reference to worldwide declines in wild animal populations (down by an average of 68% since 1970), the continuing destruction of forests, over-fishing and pollution et cetera, et cetera. It is sobering to note that, currently, only 4% of the planet's mammals are wild. Dasgupta suggests we urgently need supranational institutions (I can see this being strongly resisted in some circles) to protect 'global goods', such as rainforests and the oceans. He sensibly advocates paying poorer countries for their protection of the ecosystems, we all essentially use. Economic decisions clearly need to take their full environmental impacts into account. Business folk need to understand some Biology. It will be interesting to see how much political traction this 600 page report gets?