Seeding Innovation

7Nature Is the Bottom Line

“Our age needs above all courageous hope and the impulse to creativeness.”

—Bertrand Russell

JUST AS WE have both positive and negative forces impacting our lives and well-being, the same is true for nature. An executive director at the European Central Bank, Frank Elderson (2023), recently authored an opinion piece titled “The Economy and Banks Need Nature to Survive.”

He wrote, “Humanity needs nature to survive, and so do the economy and banks. The more species become extinct, the less diverse are the ecosystems on which we rely. This presents a growing financial risk that cannot be ignored.”

A growing number of banks and financial institutions are saying this.

Economies Need Nature to Survive

Elderson continues, “A thriving nature provides many benefits that sustain human well-being and the global economy. Think of fertile soils, pollination, timber, fishing stocks, clean water, and clean air. Unfortunately, intensive land use, climate change, pollution, overexploitation, and other human pressures are rapidly degrading our natural resources. This nature loss poses a serious risk to humanity as it threatens vital areas, such as the supply of food and medicines. Such threats are also existential for the economy and the financial system, as our economy cannot exist without nature. Degradation of nature can impair production processes and consequently weaken the creditworthiness of many companies.”

Nature isn't on the balance sheet, and it should ...