The role of national ecosystem assessments in influencing policy - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The role of national ecosystem assessments in influencing policy making

Dr Claire Brown, Head of Ecosystem Assessment Programme

The Aim

Provide insights from experiences of the added value to policy making in undertaking an national ecosystem assessment

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What is an ecosystem assessment

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 Links ecosystems, services and people  Connects different sectors  Communicates complex information  Engages stakeholders  Is not primary research!

Why conduct an ecosystem assessment

 Respond to decision makers need for

information  Highlight trade-offs between decision

• ptions

 Model future prospects to avoid unseen, long term consequences Provide critical judgement of options and uncertainty Improve the way benefits of ecosystem services are described and valued Help to build a bridge between development and environmental communities Uncover and bring together a fragmented evidence base

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Who conducts an ecosystem assessment

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Challenges in undertaking an ecosystem assessment

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Valuation of ecosystem services

 The importance of ecosystem services can be measured in monetary and non monetary terms  Different values of human well-being:

• Economic
• Health
• Social

 A different way of looking at these might be:

• Direct use
• Indirect use
• Non-use
• Option values

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Valuation steps

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The merits of monetary valuation

 Makes the case for the conservation of natural capital A common decision-making unit Financial costs of policy options  Allows for comparisons of different benefits of ecosystem services using the same unit  Also can talk about the loss of ecosystem services

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The limitations of monetary valuation

 Can be contested and the usefulness is being discussed in many different circles  Technical challenges

• robust and exact values
• double counting
• understanding of ecological relationships
• tipping points

 Fundamental objections of putting monetary value

• n nature
• money as a human welfare indicator

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Non-monetary valuation

 Qualitative methods to demonstrated social benefits  Multi criterion assessment – combine different types of values  Still a growing area of research on how these can be measured and communicated

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Policy Impacts

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EU Working Group on Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services

 Action 5 improve knowledge of ecosystems and their services in the EU

• mapping and assessing the state of ecosystems and their services

in country by 2014

• assess economic value of services and promote integration into

accounting and reporting by 2020

 Anticipated will contribute to the internalisation of ecosystem services safe guarding into design and implementation of different policies

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Spanish National Ecosystem Assessment

 First Phase 2009-2012:  Second phase 2013 –

• socio-economic valuation
• increase impact into policy

 Breakdown barriers and build bridges between scientific knowledge and decision making  Awareness rising , including business sector  Helps underpin the Spanish Biodiversity Strategy 2011-2017

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Portugal Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

 Catalysed the incorporation of the ecosystem services into several legal documents, such as

• Legal Regime of Nature and Biodiversity

Conservation

• National Strategy for the Forest
• Management Plans of Protected Areas

 Undertaking a TEEB-like assessment

• Includes future scenarios and modelling
• Policy analysis include green accounting

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UK National Ecosystem Assessment

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Outlines the commitments for the environment, including: Natural Capital committee Committed to supporting a new international coalition of business coordinated by the TEEB for Business Coalition New Nature Improvement Areas Follow up Phase

UK NEA Lessons Learned

 Policy impact  Data and advice  Governance structure  Team Familiarisation  Management and communication

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Practical guidance for successful ecosystem assessments

 Define clear, policy relevant questions  Carefully plan and set boundaries of scope and scale  Be inclusive  Apply a clear governance structure Promote the assessment concept  Understand the decision-making context  Exchange with experts  Use and present different types of information

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Acknowledgements

• Lucy Wilson
• Cristina Secades
• Ulf Narloch
• Nadine Bowles-Newark
• Hollie Booth
• Megan Tierney

Contact: claire.brown@unep-wcmc.org Sub-global Assessment Network: www.ecosystemassessments.net

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