| The cost of ecosystem services degradation is a major topic as underlined by the TEEB program (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity), which proposed an assessment of the costs of policy inaction in the field of biodiversity conservation. In the same vein, the report of the French Centre for Strategic Analysis on the Economic Approach to Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services turns its attention to the value of ecosystem services, suggesting some elements that could help measure the cost of biodiversity degradation. There is however some confusion regarding the notion of cost. Thus, in the case of TEEB the proposed cost assessment translates into monetary terms the loss of potential profits from ecological services. Yet, another way of assessing these... |
