We Need to Talk About the Elephants in the Room

The report We Need to Talk About the Elephants in the Room (And Why Ignoring Them Perpetuates Biodiversity Destruction) contends that efforts to halt biodiversity loss will continue to fall short unless governments move beyond debates about mobilizing more conservation finance and begin tackling the structural forces that continue to reward environmental destruction.

The report identifies four “elephants in the room”: an international financial architecture that pressures governments toward extractive development; trillions of dollars in harmful public and private financial flows; legal systems that prioritize investor protections over environmental regulation; and growing reliance on market-oriented biodiversity finance mechanisms that often fail to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss.

The Elephants in the room is a collaborative work by Friends of the Earth International, Third World Network and Rainforest Action Network, with the support of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network and the CBD Women’s Caucus.