Seven books that explain the biodiversity crisis

At the Guardian seven writers tagged "titles that explain the issues at stake [in the the biodiversity crisis], from animal extinction to marine degradation and loss of habitat."

Patrick Greenfield's pick:

The Value of a Whale by Adrienne Buller

As nature takes centre stage at Cop15, so too will market-based solutions to the ecological collapse of life on Earth. Biodiversity offsets have become law in the UK, while conservation NGOs are teaming up with investment banks, asset managers and private equity firms to make nature an investable asset. But do these solutions actually work? Can green capitalism help avert the dual climate and nature crises?

Canadian author Adrienne Buller, director of research at the thinktank Common Wealth, provides a clear, accessible critique of these concepts in The Value of a Whale. The title is based on a 2019 IMF paper that assigned a $1tn-plus value to the world’s living “stock” of whales – about $2m a whale – and Buller explores why, despite apparent overwhelming recognition of the crisis in nature and the climate, humanity is so far from actually responding to the problem.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue