A new report, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), attempts to bring to the world’s attention the truly great economic value of ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as the benefits of taking these into account when making policies.

The value of the world’s natural ecosystems and biodiversity is something lacking in most economic analyses. Lack of value for what is truly priceless doesn’t just hurt the environment, however. It is also a sort of economic suicide. This new report, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme and supported by key EU, UK, German, Swedish, Dutch, and Norwegian bodies, attempts to bring all of this to our attention more and show some positive case studies of how taking the environment into consideration can actually save us money.

As the report says: “the failure of markets to adequately consider the value of ecosystem services is of concern not only to environment, development and climate change ministries but also to finance, economics and business ministries.”

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The report, Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World, says that shifting employment and investment patterns adopted in response to the challenges of global warming are already creating new jobs in many sectors and economies, and could create millions more across both the developed and developing world. In sum, UNEP predicts nothing short of a revoluton in the way the world economy will look over the next two decades.

In other highlights, the report has also found that:

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