Nature's true value overlooked in decision making - IPBES

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According to a new assessment by leading scientists, understanding the true value of nature is important to addressing the global biodiversity crisis.

Halting the loss of nature requires a shift away from focusing on short-term gains.

The study shows how to incorporate nature's many different values into decision making.

The summary was approved by more than 100 countries.

The co-chair said that shifting decision-making towards the multiple values of nature is a really important part of the system-wide change needed to address the current global biodiversity crisis.

"Redefining 'development' and 'good quality of life' is needed to recognise the multiple ways people relate to each other and to the natural world."

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The main UN group of climate scientists is referred to as the IPBES. Policy makers can get scientific assessments of the planet's diversity of fauna and flora.

The way nature is valued in political and economic decision making is a key driver of the loss of biodiversity and a vital opportunity to address it.

"This report makes it clear that we must place science-based valuation of nature at the heart of economic decision making," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme.

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One in five people are supported by wild plants, animals and fungi, but their future use is at risk due to over-exploitation.

The sustainable use of biodiversity is one of three pillars of the UN convention on biodiversity, which will hold a key summit in Montreal, Canada, in December.

The Paris Climate Agreement is seen as the equivalent of the Global Biodiversity Framework. A delicate web of life that we rely on for food, clean air and water is referred to as "biodiversity."

The outcome will decide how the world will address the challenges of reducing the extinction risk threatening more than one million species and protecting 30% of land and sea.