Biodiversity Loss May Push Developing World Closer to Default
- Study shows credit rating risk from damge to ecosystems
- China faces multi-notch downgrade under business-as-usual
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Loss of biodiversity across the world may push many developing nations close to default and trigger massive downgrades for China and India, according to the first sovereign credit rating adjusted for ecological destruction.
A “partial ecosystems collapse” of fisheries, tropical timber production and wild pollination would increase annual borrowing costs for 26 nations including the US by $53 billion, according to a team led by academics at Cambridge University.