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Why Ecologists Should Care about Financial Markets
Victor Galaz1, Johan Gars2, Fredrik Moberg3
1Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm. Sweden; Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Programme, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.
Trends in Ecology & Evolution
|September 29, 2015
Summary
Global finance, including banks and investors, increasingly impacts environmental change. This study explores these financial trends and their effects on ecosystems, highlighting research gaps.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Economics
- Finance
Background:
- Financial actors like international banks and investors are central to the global economy.
- Their role is evolving due to financial innovation, sustainability goals, and shifting commodity markets.
- These shifts create new global connections linking finance to environmental change.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize current financial trends.
- To explore the direct and indirect connections between financial markets/actors and ecosystems.
- To identify critical research gaps in understanding these impacts.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and synthesis of financial trends.
- Analysis of financial mechanisms influencing ecosystems.
- Identification of research needs.
Main Results:
- Financial markets and actors are becoming significant drivers of global environmental change.
- The literature currently underrepresents the specific pathways through which finance affects ecosystems.
- New global financial connections are emerging with ecological implications.
Conclusions:
- Further research is crucial to understand the complex relationship between global finance and ecosystem change.
- Addressing research gaps is essential for developing effective environmental policies.
- The financial sector's influence on the environment requires more in-depth investigation.
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