Abstract

2010 was the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity, which was followed by the Decade on Biodiversity that ended in 2020. However, the decline in biodiversity continues unabated at genetic, species, taxa and ecosystem levels. In February 2021, The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review was published by the UK Treasury. Like the WWF’s report from more than a decade ago, it urges moving beyond GDP and valuing and managing natural capital as one would for any other portfolio. Further recommendations include restructuring food production and consumption patterns, and institutional changes in education and finance systems. The Dasgupta Review says many of the right things, but will it be instrumental in affecting the required change? The Dasgupta Review ends with a call for ecological and environmental education within all stages of education. This paper recommends that ‘ecology’ education be imbibed with the principles of bioethics and makes some initial suggestions of what this could include at different levels of education.