The goal of TEEB Ecological and Economic Foundations is to provide the conceptual foundation to link economics and ecology, to highlight the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services, and to show their importance for human well-being. Written by a team of international experts and led by Dr. Pushpam Kumar, this aspect of the TEEB study tackles the challenges of valuing ecosystem services, as well as issues related to economic discounting. It aims to quantify the costs of inaction and examine the macroeconomic dimension of ecosystem services loss. Examples include water and air quality regulation, nutrient cycling and decomposition, plant pollination, and flood control, all of which are dependent on biodiversity. TEEB Ecological and Economic Foundations is the most comprehensive overview of existing thinking in this area to date, and the process is bringing scientists and economists together to provide the analysis and tools required in order for us to be able to create a robust methodological framework enabling the decision-makers at different levels to undertake an economic analysis of ecosystem services and biodiversity.
