Exporting Extinction: How the International Financial System Constrains Biodiverse Futures
This major report sets out to answer the question of why governments in the Global South have routinely failed to achieve biodiversity goals and targets. Zooming in on five case studies around the world, the report examines the structural drivers that create the imperatives to approve and expand extractive, ecologically harmful activities that drive biodiversity loss, including the international monetary system, the global debt architecture, transnational tax rules, and more. Ultimately, the report argues that Global South governments are currently locked into conditions of fiscal and monetary subordination. That is, the structure of the global economy—and the rules that govern it—radically restrict the ability of Global South governments to pursue sovereign policy priorities like conservation, but also climate action, health, education, and more. Right now the extinction crisis is only deepening: significant reforms to the global economy are needed to create conditions under which people and landscapes can thrive.
While domestic policies support extractive sector expansion, these state decisions are often influenced by pressures stemming from the international monetary and financial system that make extraction necessary to maintain financial stability.
Case Studies
Read excerpted case studies from the featured countries of Argentina, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jamaica, and Papua New Guinea in English, Spanish, or French.
