The biodiversity impacts of trade: Exploring the impact of consumption on biodiversity

This project aims to provide a methodology for assessing the likely geographic location and quantitative impacts (both direct and indirect) of the full spectrum of UK imports (including goods and services) on biodiversity.

It also recognises the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment suggestion that agreements with the greatest impact on biodiversity are often in fields other than the environment, such as economics and politics, emphasising the importance of exploring the links between economic activities such as the import of goods and services and overseas biodiversity loss. In doing so, this methodology will provide UK policy makers with a resource to allow critical analysis of current and future import streams against likely biodiversity impacts - a key step in fulfilling the UK's commitment to EU and The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) biodiversity targets to 2020 and beyond.

This project is funded by UK Defra and the work is being carried out by a research consortium involving staff at SEI-York, Professor David Raffaelli from the Environment Department at the University of York and William Sheate from Collingwood Environmental Planning.