This paper attempts to assess and evaluate some of the economic implications of the Convention on Biological Diversity. After outlining the main principles and the scope of this Convention, the following issues are addressed: the determination of the ‘optimal’ level of biodiversity loss, the meaning of incremental costs, and monetary evaluation problems of ecological resources and the problems it poses for the funding mechanism (GEF). The paper concludes with a discussion of the issues of commercialisation and access to genetic resources.
BartonJ.1991. ‘Relating Scientific and Commercial Worlds in Genetic Resources Negotiation’. Paper presented at Symposium on Property Rights, Biotechnology, and Genetic Resources; Nairobi, Kenya.
2.
BinghamG.. 1995. ‘Issues in Ecosystem Valuation. Improving Information for Decision Making’. Ecological Economics, 14(2): 73–90.
3.
BinswangerH.1987. Fiscal and Legal Incentives with Environmental Effects on the Brazilian Amazon. Washington, DC: World Bank
4.
BromleyD.1991. Environment and Economy: Property Rights and Public Policy. Oxford: Blackwell.
5.
Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992. UN Doc. UNEP/Bio. Div/N7-INC. 54. Text in: International Legal Materials, 31: 822–41.
6.
CostanzaR.1998. ‘The Value of the World's Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital’. Ecological Economics, 25: 3–15.
7.
Der Spiegel1996. ‘Schillernde Brühe’. No. 14, 180–181.
8.
DarwinC.1872. The Origin of Species, 6th London edition, facs. Chicago: Thompson and Thomas, 1982.
9.
DiMasiJ., HansenR., GrabowskiH., and LasagnaL.1991. ‘Cost of Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry’. Journal of Health Economics, 10: 107–142.
10.
DinersteinE. and WikramanakeE.1993. ‘Beyond Hotspots: How to prioritize Investments to conserve Biodiversity in the Indo-Pacific Region’. Conservation Biology, 7: 53–65.
11.
FaithD.1992. ‘Conservation Evaluation and Phylogenetic Diversity’. Biological Conservation61: 1–10.
12.
FAO1983. International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources. Rome.
13.
FarnsworthN.1988. ‘Screening Plants for New Medicines’. In WilsonE. (ed.), Biodiversity. Washington: National Academy Press.
14.
GrubbM., KochM., MunsonA., SullivanF., and ThomsonK.1993. The ‘Earth Summit’ Agreements: A guide and Assessment. London: Earthscan Publications.
15.
KingK., and MunasingheM. (editors) 1995. Ozone Layer Protection: Country Incremental Costs. Washington, DC: World Bank.
16.
Klemm deC., and ShineC.1993. ‘Biological Diversity Conservation and Law. Legal Mechanisms for Conserving Species and Ecosystems’. IUCN Environmental Policy and Law Paper, no. 29. Gland: IUCN.
17.
KloppenburgJ.1988. First the Seed. The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology, 1492–2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18.
McNaughtonS.1993. ‘Biodiversity and Function of Grazing Ecosystems’. In SchulzeE., and MooneyH. (eds), Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions, pp.361–383. Berlin: Springer Verlag.
19.
MittermeierR., and WernerT.1990. ‘Wealth of Plants and Animals Unites “Megadiversity” Countries’. Tropicus, 4: 4–5.
20.
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Montreal, September 17, 1987. In International Legal Materials, 26: 1550–61.
21.
MüllerF.1996. ‘Transfer Payments to Developing Countries for Environmental Protection: A Viewpoint’. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 49: 197–207.
22.
MyersN.1988. ‘Threatened Biotas: “Hot spots” in Tropical Forests’. The Environmentalist8: 187–208.
23.
MyersN.1997. ‘The World's Forests and Their Ecosystem Services’. In DailyG. (ed.), Nature's Services, pp. 215–33. Washington, DC: Island Press.
24.
NortonB.1988. ‘Commodity, Amenity, and Morality: The Limits of Quantification in Valuing Biodiversity’. In: WilsonE. (ed.), Biodiversity, pp. 200–205. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
25.
OdumE.1953. Fundamentals of Ecology. Philadelphia: Saunders.
26.
PearceD. and MoranD.1994. The Economic Value of Biodiversity. London: Earthcan Publications.
27.
PearceD. and MoranD.1997. ‘The Economics of Biological Diversity Conservation’. In FiedlerP. and KareivaP. (eds), Conservation Biology, 2nd edition, pp. 384–409. New York: International Thomson Publishing.
28.
PerringsC.1995. ‘Biodiversity Conservation as Insurance’. In SwansonT. (ed.), The Economics and Ecology of Biodiversity Decline: The Forces Driving Global Change, pp. 69–77. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
29.
RandallA.1988. ‘What Mainstream Economists Have to Say About the Value of Biodiversity’. In WilsonE. (ed.), Biodiversity, pp. 217–23. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
30.
ReidW., LairdS.. 1993. Biodiversity Prospecting: Using Genetic Resources for Sustainable Development. Washington DC: World Resources Institute.
31.
RosenthalJ.1997. ‘Equitable Sharing of Biodiversity Benefits: Agreements on Genetic Resources’. In Investing in Biological Diversity, pp. 253–74. OECD Proceedings, Paris.
32.
SedjoR.1992. ‘Property Rights, Genetic Resources, and Biotechnological Change’. Journal of Law and Economics, 35: 199–213.
33.
SedjoR. and SimpsonR.1995. ‘Property Rights, Externalities, and Biodiversity’. In: SwansonT.. (ed.), The Economics and Ecology of Biodiversity Decline: The Forces Driving Global Change, pp. 79–90. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
34.
ShineC., and KohonaP.1992. ‘The Convention on Biological Diversity: Bridging the Gap Between Conservation and Development’. Review of European Community and International Environmental Law, 1(3): 278–288.
StählerF.1994. ‘Biological Diversity: The International Management of Genetic Resources and its Impact on Biotechnology’. Ecological Economics, 11: 227–236.
37.
SolowR.1974. ‘The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics’. American Economic Review, 64: 1–14.
38.
SuplieJ.1995. ‘Streit auf Noahs Arche: Zur Genese der Biodiversitäts-Konvention’. Working Papers, FS 2–95–406, Science Center Berlin.
39.
SwaneyJ., and OhlsonP.1992. ‘The Economics of Biodiversity: Lives and Lifestyles’. Journal of Economic Issues, 26(1): 1–25.
40.
SwansonT.1992. ‘Economics of a Biodiversity Convention’. Ambio, 21(3): 250–257.
41.
SwansonT.1994. International Regulations of Extinction. London: Macmillan Press.
42.
TilmanD.1997. ‘Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning’. In: DailyG. (ed.), Nature's Services. pp. 93–112. Washington, DC: Island Press.
43.
Vane-WrightR., HumphriesC. and WilliamsP.1991. ‘What to Protect – Systematics and the Agony of Choice’. Biological Conservation, 55: 235–254.
44.
VitousekP., and HooperD.1993. ‘Biological Diversity and Terrestrial Ecosystem Biochemistry’. In SchulzeE. and MooneyH. (eds), Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function, pp. 3–14. Berlin: Springer Verlag.
45.
von WeiszäckerC.1996. ‘Biodiversity Newspeak’. In: BaumannM., BellJ.. (eds), The Life Industry: Biodiversity, People and Profits, pp. 53–68. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
46.
WellsM.1994. ‘The Global Environmental Facility and Prospects for Biodiversity Conservation’. International Environmental Affairs, 6(1): 69–97.
47.
WoodP.1997. ‘Biodiversity as the Source of Biological Resources’. Environmental Values, 6(3): 251–268.
