Ecosystem services contribute significantly to human well being: natural capital represents a quarter of total wealth in developing countries (Ecosystem services: the capital for the poor - adriana dinu 29 may 2010 presentation for EC)

1. Ecosystems services: the essential capital for the poorest Adriana Dinu, UNDP Environment and Energy Practice Leader, Europe and CIS

2. Ecosystem services contribute significantly to human well being:natural capital represents a quarter of total wealth in developing countries Pollination: US$ 153 billion/year (2005) = 9.5% of the value of the world agricultural production Bees are in decline – affecting 35% of global food production 20-25 people to pollinate 100 apple trees in one day vs. two colonies of honeybees Fisheries: Over one billion people rely on fishery as the major source of food 200 Million people are employed in fishery - US$ 100 billion income 80% of the world fisheries are fully or over-exploited Forestry: 60 million indigenous people totally dependent on forests 1.5 billion dependent on agro-forestry Annual rate of deforestation: 13 million ha Annual loses from deforestation and degradation: 2 – 4.5 trillion (TEEB) Medicine from Nature: 80% of people in Africa has traditional medicine - main source of health care Cone snails might contain the largest number of human medicine of any genus 1 billion people depend of drugs derived from forest plants Okavango Wetlands generate 32 million/year to local communities; US$1,500/household /year: from the harvest of fish, thatch for construction or for basket weaving, employment in the nature tourism, and grazing of cattle

3. Biodiversity loss undermines efforts to reduce poverty 75%percent of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas, and depend on ecosystem goods and services for their livelihoods and subsistence. India: ecosystem services contribute up to 57% of the GDP of the poor (TEEB). Though human well being is dependent on the continued provision of ecosystem services, these contributions are neither fully recognized nor valued in markets. The poor are unable to replace ecosystem services with built infrastructure - this will make poor communities more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, with enormous social costs.

4. Poverty leads to biodiversity loss The poor are unable to forego uses of natural resources if there are no alternatives available. The poor are unlikely to change land/resource use practices if the immediate risks and costs are high. Temporal mismatch between the incidence of the costs and benefits of ecosystem management - Benefits provided by ‘intact’ ecosystems tend to be shared and occur over the long term; - Costs of managing ecosystems and opportunity costs of foregoing resource use must be borne immediately. The poor receive only a fraction of the benefits derived from the extraction of natural resources Harvest natural resources beyond their sustainable use thresholds to meet their target incomes The distribution of land and natural resources The landless poor may not have alternative means but to encroach on natural ecosystems. Biodiversity loss may foreclose future development options in poor countries with limited development opportunities. Without such opportunities, these countries may not be able to lift the poor out of poverty.

5. Biodiversity and MDG 1 (eradicate poverty and hunger) Attenuating biodiversity loss is a critical strategy for mitigating poverty and achieving the MDG Agenda: ultimately, the only real solution for eradicating poverty.

6. Key factors determining the success or failure in managing biodiversity and avoid impoverishing the poor: the strength of environmental governance systems policies, regulations, effective institutions; accountable decision making systems and property rights the ability to address market failure market failure arises when the many values of ecosystem goods and services are not accounted for – or are undervalued – in market transactions. This leads to the conversion of ecosystems or overharvesting

7. UNDP’s Ecosystem and Biodiversity Programme OBJECTIVE: to maintain and enhance the beneficial services provided by natural ecosystems in order to secure livelihoods, food, water and health, reduce vulnerability to climate change, store carbon and avoid emissions from land use change. US$ 1.95 billion: 466 million from the GEF PROTECTED AREAS __________________ 100.5 million ha MAINSTREAMING ______________________ 456 million ha ECOSYSTEM BASED MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION

8. Three high priority actions for UNDP in biodiversity:

9. 1. Balancing biodiversity management with development and poverty reduction: UNDP Assists developing countries to develop their capacity to manage and sustain the supply of ecosystem goods and services that underpin development (livelihoods, food security, human health) Integrate biodiversity into Poverty Reduction Strategies: thebenefits of biodiversity management should be measured in terms of its contribution to poverty agenda; Integrate NBSAPs into national development and economic sector plans, and considerations relating to climate change adaptation and mitigation plans; Establish property rights regime for common property resources that give poor communities a utilitarian incentive to manage biodiversity; Leverage finance to address governance and market failures, and to compensate the current costs of foregoing resource-use.

10. 2. Coping with climate change: UNDP is helping countries develop climate change strategies as part of their broad development frameworks, which integrate cost-effective, locally appropriate ecosystem-based adaptation and mitigation options Sound policy measures and remove policy distortions that lead to ecosystem loss – and GHG emissions; Enforce laws aimed at securing the public interest with regard to the avoidance of GHG emissions from ecosystem degradation; Incentives to sustain ecosystem based adaptation: tax credits, PES insurance schemes; Formalize property rights and responsibilities where open access to natural resources is causing ecosystem degradation and GHG emissions; Comparative costs and benefits of ecosystem-based adaptation versus other adaptation options; Strengthen institutions responsible for planning and executing ecosystem management; Address market failure by facilitating country access to carbon markets, CDM or its successor, voluntary markets.

11. 3. Environmental Financing for Biodiversity Management UNDP: Is assisting developing countries to identify, access and combine sources of environmental finance to attract and drive much larger investment flows towards climate resilient and ecosystem friendly development New financing options needed National Budgetary Appropriations: Making the business case for investment in biodiversity management covering the economic benefits from investment, the costs of inaction, and the costs of management; Donor Funding: Biodiversity as a priority in national development plans, PRSP, the World Bank CAS, UNDAF, adaptation strategies; Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES): aimed at addressing market failure rather than leveraging new sources of environmental finance. International PES (payments for REDD) - new sources of revenue; Mainstreaming Biodiversity into Economic Development: Reducing threats to biodiversity at source, and thus reducing the costs of management; Leveraging funds, human and management capacity from production enterprises; Structure supply chains to improve market returns and create the necessary incentives for sound biodiversity management.

12. Strengthening cooperation in the UN System to address the post 2010 biodiversity agenda: Environment Management Group (EMG): coordination body on environmental issues for UN Liaison Group on Biodiversity related Conventions (BLG) Joint Liaison Group of Rio Conventions (JLC) + member countries Should formulate the post 2010 targets Should mandate joint implementation of the targets and offer follow-up support The Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action - harmonisation of development cooperation: UN Assistance should respond to the national priorities UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF): to integrate biodiversity concerns and post 2010 targets: guiding “one –UN” work in the country. Key Areas of collaboration, as identified by countries: Capacity support and institutional strengthening for national action Tools for M&E, research and assessments Tools for calculating biodiversity value-budgeting assets and trade-offs on the national levels

13. THANK YOU!