By Dr Vandana Shiva
Biodiversity weaves the web of life, the infrastructure of life. It is not an object, not a thing, not a number. Biodiversity is life in self-organized complexity, collective agency, and continual evolution.
Biodiversity is intrinsically linked to cultural diversity and local communities that have protected it for millennia through indigenous knowledge. However, a new threat is emerging: the financialization of nature. This concept, promoted by the financial sector under the false promise of “conservation” and “protection” of biodiversity, represents a new form of bio-imperialism that could lead to the complete commodification of the world’s remaining commons.
Indigenous and local communities have been the custodians of biodiversity for generations. Through traditional practices and deep ecological knowledge, these communities have developed sustainable agricultural systems that work in harmony with nature rather than against it. These practices represent a holistic ecological science that contrasts sharply with the dominant mechanistic narrative in the globalized West, which sees nature primarily as a resource to be exploited. Presently 80% of the world’s biodiversity is conserved within 22% of land where indigenous people live in their biodiversity economies and cultures.
In recent years, the financial sector has pushed for the financialization of biodiversity through market mechanisms like biodiversity credits and Nature Asset Companies (NACs). These initiatives are presented as conservation solutions but are actually a new form of bio-imperialism. These schemes allow the financial sector, historically responsible for plundering natural resources, to determine what in nature has value and what does not. This approach risks turning the last remaining commons into mere commodities to be exploited in the global market.
Biodiversity credits are presented as tools to finance positive actions for biodiversity. However, behind this façade lie serious pitfalls. Like carbon credits, biodiversity credits risk becoming a ploy for companies to avoid stringent regulations, continuing destructive practices under a new guise. Moreover, the monetization of nature’s ecological functions can create the dangerous illusion of substitutability among different critical ecosystem functions, when in reality, each function has a unique and irreplaceable role in the natural balance. But money cannot grow a forest, and cannot make the stream run. It’s the care of local communities that keeps ecosystems alive.
We have to address a deep ontological error of equating artificial constructs with the real flows of life. The financialization of nature carries the risk of total commodification of ecosystems. This process threatens not only to exclude local communities from their lands and resources but also to irreversibly alter the ecological dynamics that sustain life on Earth. Reducing nature to a financial asset risks perpetuating a cycle of exploitation and destruction, far from the vision of a living, interconnected Earth. Bio-imperialism is creating false narratives and imposing them on the world’s mind through power.
Protecting biodiversity is not just about conserving species and habitats but also about maintaining the interconnected ecological networks and relationships that sustain life on Earth. Holistic ecological science promotes food production methods that do not destroy nature but instead value and protect it. These regenerative methods are essential to reverse the trend of biodiversity loss caused by industrial agriculture and monoculture.
The globalized West has historically treated nature as a resource to be extracted. This mechanistic approach ignores the interdependence of life on Earth and promotes exploitation models that have led to the current ecological crisis. But Nature never works in monocultures, and it never extracts without giving back.
This mechanistic approach ignores the interdependence of life on Earth and promotes exploitative patterns that have led to the current ecological crisis. In contrast, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities live in symbiosis with nature, nurturing and protecting it. This approach not only sustains biodiversity but also enhances the resilience of local communities.
Defending the integrity of biodiversity is our challenge. Biodiversity must be recognized and protected as a common good, not as a commodity. Indigenous and local communities offer sustainability models that must be valued and supported. Countering the financialization of nature is crucial to preserving the ecological and cultural integrity of our planet. Only through a holistic and regenerative vision can we ensure a future where biodiversity thrives, social justice is respected, and nature is treated with the respect it deserves. Our fight against bio-imperialism continues, for a world where life in all its forms is celebrated and protected.
Join the campaign “Biodiversity is Life, not an Asset Class“
Also read:
Understanding Biodiversity Credits – A Factsheet
Webinar – Biodiversity is Life: Rights of Nature vs Financialisation of Nature – Highlights