Federal Ministry for the Environment and EU Commission present Pavan Sukhdev as study leader
Inaction is more expensive than action - former World Bank economist Nicholas Stern proved this about a year ago with regard to climate protection. Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel and EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas have appointed the economist Pavan Sukhdev as leader for a research project aimed at proving that the same applies to biodiversity. Mr Sukhdev is Managing Director and Head of Global Markets of the Deutsche Bank AG in London. The project, with the objective to determine the economic cost of biodiversity loss worldwide, is a result of the G8 + 5 environment ministers' meeting in Potsdam last year.
In addition to his work for Deutsche Bank, Pavan Sukhdev is also Director of the Green Accounting for Indian States Project (www.gistindia.org ), a study on the economic significance of biodiversity in India. "Choosing Pavan Sukhdev underlines that this is an international study, as without international support the results of the study would not be at all representative and thus not have sustainable effects", said Environment Minister Gabriel.
"The conservation of biodiversity is an ethical and moral obligation, as with every species we lose, we are losing a piece of ourselves. This is a crucial and economically necessary task", stressed Commissioner Dimas.
Pavan Sukhdev explained the aim of the project: "We want to use the results of the study to underline the fundamental economic importance of the numerous and different aspects of biodiversity." The first findings over the last months have already proven this statement. Almost half of all pharmaceutical drugs approved in Germany are plant-based. Ten out of the 25 most effective drugs are produced from natural sources and wild species, i.e. from fungi, bacteria, plants or animals. With every species that is lost, the cure for a major disease may be lost as well. The global market value of pharmaceutical products for which natural genetic resources are used is estimated at 75 to 150 billion dollars per year.
EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel will present the results of the study's first phase to the global community at the 9th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. At the meeting, which will take place in Bonn from 19 to 30 May 2008, delegates from 190 parties to the convention will discuss the worldwide conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and equitable access and benefit sharing.