Senior lawmakers from nine countries on Monday launched the world's first International Commission on Ecosystem Loss during a meeting in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi and called on the governments to take seriously the issue of environmental protection.

The International Commission on Land Use Change and Ecosystems was set up by the Global Legislators Organization (GLOBE) with financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Untied National Environment Programme (UNEP). It is the first time that senior politicians from around the world have come together to propose policy measures to stop widespread environmental destruction.

Speaking at a media briefing in Nairobi, the lawmakers, economists and scientists from across the globe called on governments to take drastic policy measures that will halt the catastrophic loss of the world's ecosystems.

"The world is facing two global crises -- one on the financial crisis and ecological crisis. The financial crisis is being deal with urgently by governments while the ecological one is being undervalued," Ian Johnson, chairman of the International Commission, told journalists in Nairobi.

Johnson said the governments are failing to stop the destruction of the world's ecosystems, whose destruction is estimated at between two trillion to five trillion U.S. dollars per year.

He noted that lack of economic value was being given to " natural capital", the collection of ecosystems that provide essential goods and services to all life on earth, resulting in the irresponsible use of natural resources and a short-term approach to policy making.

"We have a better understanding that these issues are not ephemeral; they are not valued at zero," said Johnson. "They really do have a real economic value and if we don't deal with them we will impede economic welfare, we will impede economic growth and I think that is a little bit of a change from where we were 10 to 20 years ago. I think it's now seen as an essential thing to do."

The commission is building on the world of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, published in 2005, which warned that continued degradation of ecosystems will greatly affect prosperity of future generations and present considerable hurdles to meet poverty reduction targets.

The aim of this group of lawmakers, said Miungisi Lula Johnson, a South African legislator, is to propose public policy frameworks that will build on the increased understanding of the economic value of the world's natural capital, as presented in The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study.

He urged the world's governments to address the issue of ecosystem degradation with the same urgency as global warming.

"The whole world is concerned more with the global economic crunch than destruction of ecosystems. We have seen several governments bailing out their economies but not on ecosystem degradation," Lula Johnson told journalists.

According to lawmakers, a step change in politicians' engagement with climate change took place with the publication of the Stern Review, which highlighted the economics economic losses involved with unabated climate change.

They said there was growing awareness that perverse government subsidiaries are encouraging environmentally damaging behavior and it has been estimated that 50 billion dollars in economic profits are being lost annually through over-fishing.

"Ecosystem degradation has been increasing due to competition over land. But we are pleased that the Commission has been established which will engage politicians to ensure that environmental and socio-economic concerns are both considered in the policy frameworks of the future, " said Maryam Niamir-Fuller, Director of the Division of GEF, UNEP and also co-chair of the Commission.

"This (Commission) is where we believe the role of parliamentarian. We are here to seek urgent solutions to ecological problems which have been undervalued by governments," she said.

Niamir-Fuller called on parliamentarians to push through legislative actions to make sure that people understand the economic value of conserving ecosystems.

The legislators said the crucial role played by the Commission is to translate the growing number of ecosystem valuations into pragmatic public policy solutions and present these options to governments.

"A big part of the problem is that not all of the people in politics realize how bad ecosystem degradation is. Equally, our political systems are by definition national and these are huge problems that go beyond national boundaries," said Sirpa Pietikainen, lawmaker from European Parliament.

"What we really need to do is to create understanding and cooperation between national legislators to try to push for better international regulation of the natural world," Pietikainen said.

The Nairobi meeting discussed policy instruments that can place an economic valuation on ecosystem services, such as generating rainfall, preventing flooding, regulating the soil, storing carbon, and providing clean air and clear water.

They will consider measures including the creation of a Global Network of Marine Protected Areas, a globally consistent ban on the trade in illegal timber and a payment mechanism to ensure that forests are protected.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2009)