Coal, cattle lead business damage to nature
Source: Agencies |
April 16, 2013, Tuesday
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COAL-FIRED power generation in Asia and cattle ranching in South America are the most damaging businesses for nature with hidden costs that exceed the value of their production, a UN-backed report said yesterday.
Global output of basic goods from cement to wheat caused damage totaling US$7.3 trillion a year if pollution, water, greenhouse gases and waste were priced to reflect long-term impacts, it said in a guide for businesses and investors.
The study was done by a business coalition for the Economics of Economics and Bodiversity.
"The numbers in this report underline the urgency but also the opportunities for all economies in transitioning to a green economy," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme.
Coal-fired power generation in Asia had estimated revenues of US$443 billion a year but caused US$452 billion in damage to nature, largely because greenhouse gases caused climate change and pollution harmed people's health.
Cattle ranching in South America, especially in cleared parts of the Amazon forest, ranked second with damage estimated at US$353 billion, largely because of stress on water supplies and deforestation that far exceeded revenues of US$16.6 billion.
Coal-fired power in North America was third in the ranking on damage to "natural capital," ahead of wheat and rice farming in South Asia, the report said.
"We are trying to focus the minds of businesses and investors onto natural capital" to encourage better practices, Dorothy Maxwell, director of the TEEB for Business Coalition, said. "We are not asking anyone to close down."
Some experts questioned the assumptions in the report, for instance that a ton of carbon dioxide emissions costs US$106, based on data in a 2006 study of the costs climate change by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern.
"That's far too high," said Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish statistician and author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist." In a European Union market, carbon emissions allowances trade for about 4.6 euros (US$6.02) a ton.
"There are uncertainties," said Alastair MacGregor, Chief Operating Officer of British-based Trucost which did the study for TEEB. "But the scale of these impacts are so large that they would dwarf any uncertaintintes."
Global output of basic goods from cement to wheat caused damage totaling US$7.3 trillion a year if pollution, water, greenhouse gases and waste were priced to reflect long-term impacts, it said in a guide for businesses and investors.
The study was done by a business coalition for the Economics of Economics and Bodiversity.
"The numbers in this report underline the urgency but also the opportunities for all economies in transitioning to a green economy," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme.
Coal-fired power generation in Asia had estimated revenues of US$443 billion a year but caused US$452 billion in damage to nature, largely because greenhouse gases caused climate change and pollution harmed people's health.
Cattle ranching in South America, especially in cleared parts of the Amazon forest, ranked second with damage estimated at US$353 billion, largely because of stress on water supplies and deforestation that far exceeded revenues of US$16.6 billion.
Coal-fired power in North America was third in the ranking on damage to "natural capital," ahead of wheat and rice farming in South Asia, the report said.
"We are trying to focus the minds of businesses and investors onto natural capital" to encourage better practices, Dorothy Maxwell, director of the TEEB for Business Coalition, said. "We are not asking anyone to close down."
Some experts questioned the assumptions in the report, for instance that a ton of carbon dioxide emissions costs US$106, based on data in a 2006 study of the costs climate change by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern.
"That's far too high," said Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish statistician and author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist." In a European Union market, carbon emissions allowances trade for about 4.6 euros (US$6.02) a ton.
"There are uncertainties," said Alastair MacGregor, Chief Operating Officer of British-based Trucost which did the study for TEEB. "But the scale of these impacts are so large that they would dwarf any uncertaintintes."
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