Global biodiversity finance : the case for international payments for ecosystem services

Global spending on nature conservation is currently estimated at around US$50 billion per year. Most of this is public money, yet even this is far from sufficient to maintain biodiversity and the ecosystem services upon which our economies, livelihoods and well-being depend. For this reason, many governments are using payments for ecosystem services (PES) and related market-based instruments to encourage the private sector to do more to protect the environment. Most PES initiatives operate at a national or subnational level, but this book makes the case for scaling up PES to the international level, to generate new and additional funding for biodiversity and ecosystem services, especially in the developing world. This timely volume includes examples of promising initiatives from around the world, supporting an agenda for action to make international payments for ecosystem services (IPES) a reality.