The world needs an urgent and radical change to the way economies operate to save nature and to avoid a catastrophic breakdown, a first-of-its-kind landmark review for biodiversity by an Indian-British economist has concluded. The 600-page report has been commissioned by the UK Treasury, marking the first that time a national Finance Ministry has authorised a full assessment of the economic importance of nature. It acknowledges the world is losing nature at an unprecedented rate, destroying this precious and finite resource that will “limit our wealth and damage our health”.

The study from Professor Partha Dasgupta, the Cambridge University economist, says: “By taking seriously what we know about ecosystems and how they are affected by economic activity, the review presents a new way of approaching economic decision-making that accounts for nature as our most precious asset.”