Ecosystem services – nature’s contributions to people

In the past decades, and especially after the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the term ecosystem services has been used in public discourse on an international level for any kind of benefit for people stemming from a sustained process in nature (ecosystems). There are four kinds of ecosystem services: nature’s provisions like food, fuel, genetic resources, […]

“Transformative change” urged to tackle nature decline as one million species face extinction

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has urged “transformative change” to tackle “unprecedented” rates of nature decline and species extinction, which are now likely to have grave impacts on people around the world. A landmark report by IPBES, which examines the relationship between economic development pathways and their impacts on nature, […]

Montenegro opens chapter 27 of EU accession talks

Montenegro has opened chapter 27 of EU membership negotiations, which deals with the environment and climate change. To provisionally close the most demanding and expensive chapter of EU accession talks, Montenegro will have to meet benchmarks concerning matters from air quality to the water sector and the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), according to […]

Nature is treated as if it were an unlimited resource

Despite biodiversity’s essential value for economic sectors such as forestry, agriculture, tourism, and fisheries, and its relevance for social and cultural well-being, nature is treated as if it were an unlimited resource in the region of South-East Europe, while environmental protection is often seen as an expense. Why this is happening, but also what the […]