THE BREN SCHOOL OF Environmental Science & Management
at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Presents

Ashok Khosla
Chairman
Development Alternatives Group

India

President
International Union for Conservation of Nature

"The Value of Ecosystem Services

to the Economy"

Hosted by Ernst von Weizsäcker

Abstract

Loss of biological diversity poses threats to human well-being and perhaps even to life on earth that are comparable in magnitude to those from climate change — and more immediate. Yet, today it is on the radar screen of hardly any decision maker, let alone in any media headline.

Biodiversity stands on the three legs of nature — the richness and variety of species, the productivity of their habitats, and the health of the ecosystem processes that sustain both. The conservation issues of degraded habitats and of species extinction are fairly widely understood; the critical role that the biogeochemical cycles of the biosphere play in supporting life, however, is not. More than 50% of the world's population relies directly on nature for the fulfillment of some or all basic needs. The remaining 50% are just as dependent, though less directly, on nature for water, food, medicines, and materials. Nine of the top ten drugs originate from natural plant products. One third of human food comes from plants pollinated by wild pollinators. Virtually all the oxygen we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat would not be possible if ecosystem services were to breakdown. Yet, they are completely absent from our economic and political calculations.

In his presentation, Dr. Khosla will attempt to demonstrate the importance of including the value of ecosystem services in our economic calculations. 

Biography

Ashok Khosla is chairman of the Development Alternatives Group, a consortium of organizations based in India whose mission is to create technologies, enterprises, and markets for large-scale generation of sustainable livelihoods. Dr Khosla also served as a member of the Indin government's National Security Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Council to the Cabinet. Earlier, he was director of the Office of Environment, Government of India, and director of Infoterra in the United Nations Environment Programme.

He is president of the Club of Rome and also of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He has been a member of the governing bodies of the World Wildlife Fund, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Stockholm Environment Institute, and several other Indian and international organizations. 

Dr. Khosla studied at the Cambridge and Harvard universities. He was recently made Officer of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen of England and was awarded the Stockholm Challenge Award in 2002, the UN Sasakawa Environment Prize in 2002, and the Schwab Foundation Award for Outstanding Social Entrepreneur in 2004.

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