Investments' role in ecosystem degradation.

Abstract

In their Review “Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change” (13 December 2019, p. [eaax3100][1]), Diaz et al. discuss the results of the first integrated global-scale assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The authors identify extraction of resources to provide food, feed, and industrial feedstocks as the main direct driver of the observed changes in the ecosystems on which humans depend. Socioeconomic and institutional factors represent the indirect drivers. Although Diaz et al. mention that tax havens channel funds to support illegal fishing ([ 1 ][2]), they do not sufficiently emphasize the systemic role of investments in capitalist society. Almost all provisions of food, feed, and raw materials, as well as socioeconomic and institutional changes, happen within the structural constraints and incentives of capitalism ([ 2 ][3]), a system based on private property, the competitive search for profit, and the reinvestment of profits. This system is extremely productive, generating enormous amounts of wealth, estimated at US$360 trillion in 2019 ([ 3 ][4]). However, the laws of competition demand that this wealth be reinvested somewhere to yield a return, a fact that can have striking environmental consequences. The investment decisions of a small number of financial intermediaries are responsible for substantial changes to the Amazon and boreal forests biomes ([ 4 ][5]). In addition, wealth is distributed very unequally ([ 5 ][6]). The investments of individuals with a high net worth have a disproportionately large impact on the expansion of cropland in the Global South ([ 6 ][7]). These considerations raise two fundamental questions: If we succeed in finding investment opportunities for the global wealth, what will the ecological consequences be? And if we fail, what will the economic consequences be? At this point, greater attention should be paid to the nexus between wealth generation, investment, and environmental degradation in terms of both research effort and policy initiatives. 1. [↵][8]1. V. Galaz et al ., Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2, 1352 (2018). [OpenUrl][9] 2. [↵][10]1. B. Milanovic , Capitalism, Alone: The Future of the System That Rules the World (Harvard University Press, 2019). 3. [↵][11]1. A. Shorrocks, 2. J. Davies, 3. R. Lluberas , “Global wealth report 2019” (Credit Suisse, 2019); [www.credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/reports-research/global-wealth-report.html][12]. 4. [↵][13]1. V. Galaz, 2. B. Crona, 3. A. Dauriach, 4. B. Scholtens, 5. W. Steffen , Glob. Environ. Change 53, 296 (2018). [OpenUrl][14] 5. [↵][15]1. C. Coffey, 2. P. E. Revollo, 3. R. Harvey, 4. M. Lawson , “Time to Care: Unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis” (Oxfam, 2020), p. 63. 6. [↵][16]1. M. G. Ceddia , Nat. Sustain., 10.1038/s41893-020-0480-2 (2020). [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/366/6471/eaax3100 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: #ref-4 [6]: #ref-5 [7]: #ref-6 [8]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [9]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DNat.%2BEcol.%2BEvol.%26rft.volume%253D2%26rft.spage%253D1352%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [10]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [11]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [12]: http://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/reports-research/global-wealth-report.html [13]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [14]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DGlob.%2BEnviron.%2BChange%26rft.volume%253D53%26rft.spage%253D296%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [15]: #xref-ref-5-1 View reference 5 in text [16]: #xref-ref-6-1 View reference 6 in text