With reference to an initiative called 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)', which of the following statements is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

TEEB values ecosystems for decision-makers; UNEP hosts it.

Statement by statement

1. ✗ WRONG TEEB is hosted by UNEP (started by G8+5 environment ministers and the European Commission) — not the IMF or WEF.

2. ✓ CORRECT It draws attention to the economic value of biodiversity.

3. ✓ CORRECT It helps decision-makers recognise, show and capture the value of nature.

The idea

A forest gives clean water, flood control and pollination, but none of this has a price. So when a dam or mine is planned, the loss of the forest is counted as zero. TEEB puts a value on these services so that the loss shows up in the decision.

Nature’s services are free → So they are missing from accounts → Decisions treat them as worth nothing → TEEB estimates their value → The cost of destruction becomes visible

The trap

“Economics” pulls you towards the IMF and WEF.

Elimination technique

Statement 1 lists three parents (UNEP, IMF and World Economic Forum). Parentage claims about international bodies are usually false in Environment PYQs, and a long list of hosts needs only one wrong name to fail.

Also know

TEEB came from a 2007 meeting of G8+5 environment ministers at Potsdam, Germany, and the study was led by the Indian economist Pavan Sukhdev. Its key idea is the “GDP of the poor”: rural poor families depend on free services of nature far more than national GDP shows. India has run a TEEB-India study on forests, inland wetlands and coastal ecosystems.