Putting a value on ecosystems
Putting a value on ecosystems
Water managers from around the world are looking at tools like economic valuation to translate scientific findings into public policy development.
The Seventh GEF Biennial International Waters Conference brought together over 200 participants from 85 countries to focus on economic valuation as a tool to protect and manage the world’s freshwater, groundwater and large marine ecosystems. © GWP IWC
Faced with shrinking budgets and the growing needs for environmental action, water managers must make difficult decisions about how to allocate public investments to protect and restore the natural environment. Economic valuation can help resources managers measure the value of ecosystem services – such as trapping nutrients, regulating climate, purifying water or providing recreation – by estimating the costs to society for the loss of those services.
Economic valuation promises to help bridge the gap between science and policy making by communicating the importance of ecosystems in terms of their economic worth to a variety of sectors. “Economic valuation of science-based priority actions – including trying to put a dollar figure to the value that ecosystems provide – is not an easy task, but urgently needed as part of the solution toward long-term sustainability and on-the-ground results,” says Astrid Hillers, International Waters Cluster Coordinator of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
While economic valuation can be seen as a valuable mechanism tool for resource managers, there are several drawbacks: the potential to promote change where change is not needed; a seeming lack of trust in the practice; often insufficient availability of information and consistency among data sets; and a lack of understanding in the concept, which can lead to an inability to communicate results effectively, especially in a nontechnical manner.
Proponents such as GEF recommend mainstreaming economic valuation with a clear understanding of need and scope; promoting acceptance of the practice through education and outreach; and translating results into an accessible form for policymakers and other stakeholders, such as the private sector. Communications need to be targeted to the needs of the audience and to the processes they are trying to influence. Stakeholders should be part of the economic valuation process from the early stages of the study, rather than simply presented with the results.
Bringing tools to the global community. While the Global Environment Facility’s International Waters (GEF IW) portfolio historically has made use of economic valuation, the tool has not been used in a systematic or widespread manner. To address this, the Seventh GEF Biennial International Waters Conference (IWC7) focused on economic valuation as a tool to bridge the science policy gap.
Global Environment Facility
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 183 member governments – in partnership with international institutions, NGOs and the private sector – to address global environmental issues. An independent financial organisation, the GEF provides grants to developing countries and countries with economies in transition for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer and persistent organic pollutants. These projects benefit the global environment, linking local, national and global environmental challenges and promoting sustainable livelihoods.
The conference aimed to determine how best to incorporate economic valuation into future project implementation, such as how to include methodologies in the formulation of a transboundary diagnostic analysis and how to better translate scientific findings into policy development. Results from small table dialogues among participants indicate that economic valuation is a useful tool that can support improved decision making and guide institutional framework development; influence allocation of financial resources and investments; raise awareness of various impacts in shared water systems; and ultimately lead to better governance of transboundary waters.
In addition to the central discussion on economic valuation, other conference sessions focused on a wide range of topics, from replicating good management practices from the wider Caribbean to catalysing finance for sustainable management of transboundary basins through partnerships. A highlight of the conference was the Innovation Marketplace, where project exhibitors demonstrated innovations and results, including unique water management approaches and catalytic outcomes, with emphasis on how these might be replicated.
IWC7 culminated with a ceremonial transfer of the International Waters Conference Cup to Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), which will host the IWC8 in 2015.
For more information on the IWC7, please visit:
www.iwlearn.net/iwc2013.
Seventh GEF Biennial International Waters Conference
Every two years, the Global Environment Facility’s International Waters portfolio comes together to plan, share information and build capacity in key management and technical areas to protect and manage the world’s freshwater, groundwater and large marine ecosystems. The seventh GEF IW signature learning event, held from 26 to 31 October 2013 in Barbados, brought together over 200 participants from 85 countries, including project managers, representatives of beneficiary countries, NGOs, transboundary management institutions, UN agencies and the private sector. Barbados was selected to host IWC7 in part to highlight the threats posed to water security by rising sea levels and saline intrusion of coastal aquifers, rainfall variability and reduced catchment recharge, and increased frequency of natural disasters. Conference participants took part in technical site visits around the island that showcased the country’s water management approaches to land-use planning, coastal risk reduction and groundwater protection.
