Consumption-based accounting of biodiversity loss

Abstract

Biodiversity is critical to life on earth, yet projections show that loss of biodiversity, specifically the increase in species extinction risk, is likely to continue without significant intervention. Human activity is a key driver of this loss, with local, direct activity often induced by geographically distant consumption of goods and services. In order to reduce biodiversity loss, we need first to quantify it, then identify key actors implicated in the loss and finally, develop interventions which can successfully halt that loss.

This work presents a methodology for consumption-based accounting of biodiversity loss by first introducing the ‘extinction-risk footprint’ and then demonstrating its application on three different scales. Leveraging both the power of input-output analysis and the comprehensive data curated in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, this extinction-risk footprint provides insights into the key locations and sectors of consumption which drive species extinction risk, facilitating the identification of interventions which can reduce this risk.

The extinction-risk footprint introduced within this thesis, then applied in three different contexts, enables the assessment of biodiversity loss using the same methodology as that used to assess more mainstream environmental indicators such as carbon emissions. At a time when the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is under development, the insights that this consumption-based accounting provides could be an important advance in supporting global conservation efforts.