Authors: Leon Braat, Patrick ten Brink

This Summary presents the results of the study of “The Cost of Policy Inaction (COPI): The case of not meeting the 2010 biodiversity target”. In the context of the environment, the cost of policy inaction is defined as: the environmental damage occurring in the absence of additional policy or policy revision. Inaction not only refers to the absence of policies, but it also refers to the failure to correct misguided policies in other areas. The costs of policy inaction may be greater than just the environmental damage, if the same inaction also creates societal and economic problems.