Environmental economics

This report presents insights on both critical water-related ecosystem services and also on the wider ecosystem services from wetlands. The objective is encourage additional policy momentum, business commitment, and investment in the conservation, restoration, and wise use of wetlands. The report seeks to show how recognising, demonstrating, and capturing the values of ecosystem services related to water and wetlands can lead to better informed, more efficient, and fairer decision making.

This report focuses on the role and importance of the fishing and tourism industries in Vanuatu’s economy. The report begins by presenting an overview of the country, its economy, and the fishing and tourism industries. It proceeds by discussing the importance of each industry to the urban and rural economies. The report concludes by summarizing the evidence presented and discussing possible future growth paths for each industry.

This report presents an overview of the economy of Fiji with an emphasis on the fishing and tourism industries and their contributions to the broader economy. This study highlights the important role natural resources fulfill not only in the tourism and fishing industries, but in the broader economy, in order to inform local policy making and improve the focus and policy relevance of subsequent environmental economic research in the country.

In 2009, IUCN-Oceania Regional Office in partnership with SOPAC and SPC established the Pacific Resource and Environmental Economics Network (PREEN). The PREEN was established in response to a need by the small but growing group of practitioners in the Pacific for a professional body to share information and access peer support to conduct natural resource and/or environmental economics in the region.

Ecosystem valuation is a complex topic with extensive jargon and rapidly evolving techniques. Although a multitude of related guidelines already exist, none cater directly for the needs of business. As companies start to show an interest in CEV, it is therefore essential to provide an approach that they can follow and rely upon, that is accepted by planners and decisionmakers, and which has been developed through a process of close collaboration with businesses themselves.

This report is planned to be a useful advisory tool for local and regional policymakers, administrators and managers. The information in this report will also be of interest to organisations such as NGOs, regulatory bodies, permitting agencies and the judicial system. It explores and gives practical guidance on how to deal with the challenge of biodiversity loss at a local and regional level.

The TEEB study is underpinned by an assessment of state-of-the-art science and economics. The goal is to provide the conceptual foundation to link economics and ecology and to posit a paradigm of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services. This aspect of the study tackles the challenges of valuing ecosystem services, as well as issues related to economic discounting.

This publication is the executive summary for a full report which demonstrates the value of ecosystems and biodiversity to the economy, to society and to individuals. It underlines the urgency of action, as well as the benefits and opportunities that will arise as a result of taking such action. The report shows that the cost of sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services is lower than the cost of allowing biodiversity and ecosystem services to dwindle.