Patrick ten Brink of IEEP on an economist's perspective on the importance of economic value of nature for decision making within the context of IPBES

1. An economist’s point of view on IPBES: How can
assessments of ecosystem services benefit decision-
makers?
Patrick ten Brink
TEEB for Policy Makers Co-ordinator
Senior Fellow and Head of Environmental Economics Programme
Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP)
Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
Reconnecting science to policy: Why? What? How?
11:30 – 13:30 Tuesday 29 May 2012
European Parliament, Brussels
Room PHS 7C050

2. Critical issues
The value of biodiversity and ecosystem services are not fully reflected in the
markets, in price signals, and policies
 Decision making (at company, policy & citizen level) still too often fails to take into
account the local to global benefits, contributing to a loss of biodiversity and
ecosystem services.
 Assessing ecosystem service benefits (and links to biodiversity and
ecosystem functions) and identifying who benefits from what natural capital
is critical for policy making, interest and instrument choice, design and
implementation, and enforcement.
 IPBES is an opportunity to drive understanding and awareness of the roles
and value of nature for people, society, and the economy & hence help
develop the evidence base needed by policy makers

3. Biodiversity (genes, species, ecosystems) & its value is about
Diversity/variety – e.g. pharmaceuticals, food security, biomimicry;
Building on Balmford and Rodriguez et al (2009) Scoping the Science
E.g. genetic resources: > than
Quantity – e.g. timber, carbon storage, fish stock, flood control, water retention
E.g. for fish production: > than
Quality – e.g landscape & tourism, ecosystems & water filtration, resilience
(to climate change, IAS)

4. Many ecosystem services from the Benefits local to global
same piece of land
Benefits depend on supply/demand,
Benefits are spatially dependent scarcity and availability of substitutes

5. Benefits depend on what you cover in Benefits also differ across stakeholders
the analysis There will be winners and losers
Benefits are time dependent (as are costs) There are trade-offs in decisions

6. Understanding values has many aspects – this is both an opportunity for decision making
(better evidence, fuller understanding) & a challenge (tools and resources to assess values)
Fit for purpose: what level of precision is needed?
 EU Policy Making – if benefits an order of magnitude > costs (or vice versa), then
clear signal for need for policy action (or not). Precision less critical in Impact
Assessment (IA) - robust order of magnitude can suffice.
 Instrument Design – eg PES, REDD+, ETS – greater precision needed to get the
design right (e.g. what level of payments, defining additionality & conditionality) + confidence in
instrument
 In project and permit assessment – as precise an answer is needed where
possible, but whole picture also needed
 In compliance checking (e.g. performance under PES/REDD) – as precise an answer
as possible is needed. Verifiability.
Fit for purpose:
Policy needs & context defines the level of robustness and precision needed
Good governance only requires answers fit for purpose – proportionality principle

7. TEEB for Policy Makers
The Global Biodiversity Crisis
• Nature’s assets & biodiversity loss
• Economic values and loss
• Social dimension
Measuring what we manage
• Indicators
• Accounts (SEEA/Waves)
• Valuation
• Assessment
Available Solutions
• PES (e.g. water), PES: REDD+
• Markets, GPP
• Subsidy reform
• Legislation, liability, taxes & charges
• Protected Areas
• Investment in natural capital (restoration et al)
Transforming our approach to
http://www.teebweb.org/ natural capital

8. Evidence base - Assessing values and actions
Assessments can identify where ecosystems can provide goods and services at
lower cost than by man-made technological alternatives >> significant savings
• USA-NY: Catskills-Delaware watershed for NY: PES/working with nature saves money (~5US$bn)
• New Zealand: Te Papanui Park - water supply to hydropower, Dunedin city, farmers (~$136m)
• Mexico: PSAH to forest owners, aquifer recharge, water quality, deforestation, poverty (~US$303m)
• France & Belgium: Priv. Sector: Vittel (Mineral water) Bionade (soft drink) PES for water quality
• Venezuela: PA helps avoid potential replacement costs of hydro dams (~US$90-$134m over 30yr)
• Vietnam restoring/investing in Mangroves - cheaper than dyke maintenance (~US$: 1m to 7m/yr)
• South Africa: WfW public PES to address IAS, avoids costs and provides jobs (~20,000; 52%♀)
• Germany : peatland restoration: avoidance cost of CO2 ~ 8 to 12 €/t CO2 (0-4 alt. land use)
• Belgium: Schelde flood control: 14 year payback for option using green infrastructures
(ecosystem restoration); 41 years for traditional man-made infrastructure (storm surge barrier)
Assessing where working with nature saves money for public (city, region, national), private sector,
communities and citizens & who can make it happen can be valuable for policy making
Sources: various. Mainly in TEEB for National and International Policy Makers, TEEB for local and regional policy and TEEB ca ses

9. Evidence base for decision making
 Economic assessments can help decision making :
 By adding to the evidence base – helping understand trade-offs in decision making,
winners and losers across stakeholders, time and location.
 Inform and encourage decisions and support ambition : where additional evidence
(e.g. on costs of policy inaction) underlines urgency of action.
 Facilitate political buy-in / reduce opposition: by presenting clear economic insights
 Encourage synergies and good governance: by underlining where actions in different
policy domains support (or run counter) others’ objectives
 Help in instrument design, implementation and enforcement: e.g. in PES/REDD+
schemes to define incentive and non-compliance response.

10. IPBES & contributing to the evidence
Links with other processes and options over time
WAVES and SEEA
National TEEBs & support for development
‘coordination
M orbit’
Values of
nature Values of M
nonM
nature nonM
Values of M
Regional CBD: ESS value & nature nonM
Assessments accounting 2015? 2018? Global
Core IPBES
Assessment
Thematic Climate
Land degradation
Thematic
Assessments adaptation &
Thematic & desertification
Assessments REDD+
Assessments assessments
assessments
UNFCCC / UNCCD

11. Summary
• Assessing the value of nature improves the evidence base for decisions
• Qualitative, quantitative, spatial and monetary analysis each have a role
• Range of tools available, sometimes alternative, sometimes complementary
• Has proven to be useful for investment decisions, permit decisions, encouraging support
(political and public) for action, helped in instrument choice, design, political and legal
launch and implementation.
The whole picture of benefits and costs
need to be appreciated – the here and now,
the over there and over time, the private
and public
…is this enough to work out what to do?
…always better to look at the whole board
…and engage all the key players
Investing in the evidence base important for decision making: IPBES and affiliated regional or
country bodies, are new players that have the potential to play an important role.

12. Thank you
TEEB Reports available on http://www.teebweb.org/
See also www.teeb4me.com
Patrick ten Brink
ptenbrink@ieep.eu
IEEP is an independent, not-for-profit institute dedicated to the analysis, understanding and promotion of
policies for a sustainable environment. www.ieep.eu
See also IEEP’s award winning Manual of European Environmental Policy
http://www.ieep.eu/the-manual/introduction/ http://www.europeanenvironmentalpolicy.eu/

13. CBD COP 10 Nagoya: Strategic Plan 2011-20
5 strategic goals & 20 headline targets ….extracts…
Strategic goal A: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming
biodiversity across government and society
Target 1:… people aware of the values of biodiversity …..
Target 2: …. biodiversity values have been integrated ….into strategies… planning …
national accounting…. reporting systems.
Strategic goal D: Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services
Target 14: … ecosystems that provide essential services…. restored and safeguarded
Target 15: … contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced…
Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of
Benefits Arising from their Utilization;
Evidence on values of biodiversity can also support many other targets
e.g. On sustainable fisheries, agriculture, forestry, sustainable use …

14. EU Biodiversity Strategy
DG Env Presentation at
´‘Investing in Peattlands‘
Sterling 2011.
Actions
Action 5: Improve Knowledge of ecosystems and their services in the EU. Member Sates,
with the assistance of the Commission, will map and assess the state of ecosystems and their
services in their national territory by 2014, assess the economic value of such services, and promote
the integration of these values into accounting and reporting systems at EU and national level by 2020

15. Economic evidence base for policy making- useful
areas of focus. IPBES activities/products ?
CBD links: thematic assessments on
• Fisheries and marine environment: resource efficiency, ESS, community
impacts, limits of substitution.
• Coral reefs: Critical natural capital at threat: BD, services, communities
• Assessment/evaluation of how ESS values assessed and taken into account
- in different socio-economic contexts. E.g. 2015 to give time for 2020
UNFCCC links: thematic assessments on
• Ecosystem based adaptation to climate change: major need to clarify areas,
cost savings, ESS benefits and wider community benefits
• REDD+ Mapping/Assessment of wider ESS and community benefits/losses
UNCCD links: thematic assessments on
• Land degradation, desertification, loss of services, impacts on poverty & MDGs,
need for investment in natural capital.
Wider Sector integration studies/assessments
• Financial services: insurance, rating agencies, ethical investment funds;
assessment, capacity building re risk assessment, management tools etc.
• Water: ecosystem based clean water provision, water stress, health, crops, savings
• Agriculture & pollination: specific thematic assessment. Food security, sector resilience

16. Biodiversity ‘values’: What can you know; wish to know
To get the full picture one needs
mix of monetary, quantitative,
spatial, and qualitative
information / understanding
Valuation tends to build on
physical assessment
Available Press Policy
information interest needs
Quantitative
The Evidence Base / qualitative
and Demand
Monetary
IPBES has potential to help with both