Resource management is the link between sustainable prosperity and the survival of the natural world. Decision-makers, whether in government or the corporate sector, operate within an economic framework that does not formally recognize how much the world relies on biodiversity, for everything from food and medicine to climate resilience.
This means economic systems are failing to account for the real cost of environmental damage and harmful resource use. Efforts to protect and restore nature have for the most part overlooked the biggest single factor in biodiversity loss: the world’s inefficient and irresponsible use of natural resources.
In the lead up to CBD COP 15 in October 2021, the science-based principles outlined in this report can help policymakers move beyond pledges and commitments, and look to natural resource management approaches to acknowledge, understand and address the direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss for climate, nature and socially just economic and social development.