Nature’s capacity to provide vital services and functions such as freshwater, benign climate and natural ecosystems for recreational activities is often cheaper to sustain than having to invest in technological solutions to compensate for lost functions. Protecting and restoring biodiversity is also an essential step in the transition to a more sustainable economy and protecting ecosystems can be a very cost effective measure to this purpose. This is confirmed by a report to policy makers presented by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) project, a major independent global study providing an economic angle to an environmental topic.