Biodiversity loss may push India, China closer to default: Report

Loss of biodiversity across the world may push many developing nations close to default and trigger massive downgrades for China and India, according to the first sovereign credit rating adjusted for ecological destruction.

A “partial ecosystems collapse” of fisheries, tropical timber production and wild pollination would increase annual borrowing costs for 26 nations including the US by $53 billion, according to a team led by academics at Cambridge University.

The research is groundbreaking, extending earlier work on how government finances will be threatened by climate change.  

The report said China’s credit rating would drop six notches, adding $18 billion to its annual interest