We are facing an alarming loss of biodiversity We can no longer ignore the warnings of a “Silent Spring”.i We are currently facing a global change in fauna and flora: some are rarefying or disappearing, while others are now thriving in environments that were until recently not suited for them. The figures are quite telling: 25% of studied species are threatened with extinction; scientist are talking about an ongoing 6th mass extinction, the first one caused by humankind. Yet, biodiversity is key to the resilience of ecosystems, which provide unaccounted for but essential services that sustain life on our planet, what we call “ecosystem services”. To put it in economic terms, they include the provision of basic but essential goods such as food, wood, water, etc., but also regulation services such as climate regulation, water purification or pollination. The deterioration of nature through deforestation, plastic and chemical pollution and overconsumption obviously alters the provision of those services. Since  Page 2 sur 13 1970, 14 out of the 18 categories of ecosystem services have declined according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Some of these ecosystems are critical to human life and activity: pest and disease control is an alarming example, with scientists warning of an “Era of pandemics” if we do not tackle the biodiversity crisis.ii  2.
*** To conclude, let me quote one of the most famous Dutch painters, Van Gogh, writing to his brother Theo from the south of France in 1879: “art is man added to nature – nature, reality, truth, but with a significance, a conception, a character, which the artist brings out in it”. Just like in Van Gogh’s art, it is becoming urgent that we find a way of life (in France we say “art of life” [art de vivre]) that allows men to live harmoniously within nature. We have to ‘re-embed’ our economies into nature, also in the name of our long-term economic interest. It will take time and hard work, as I stressed: this is one more reason to start soon. Thank you for your attention. Page 13 sur 13  References i Rachel Carson (1962), ‘A Silent Spring’. ii IPBES (2020), Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Pandemics. iii Dasgupta, P. (2021), The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review. (London: HM Treasury). iv Herweijer, C., Evison, W., Mariam, S., Khatri, A., Albani, M., et al. (2020), Nature Risk Rising: Why the Crisis Engulfing Nature Matters for Business and the Economy, World Economic Forum. v Costanza, R., De Groot, R., Sutton, P., Van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S. J., Kubiszewski, I., ... & Turner, R. K. (2014), Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global environmental change, 26, 152-158. vi NGFS and INSPIRE (2021), Central banking and supervision in the biosphere: An agenda for action on biodiversity loss, financial risk and system stability.