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Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services
Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services Katherine Hawkins University of Minnesota October 2003 INTRODUCTION According to Mooney and Ehrlich (1997), the idea that humans depend on natural systems dates back as far as Plato, but the first modern publication that addresses this issue is Man and Nature by George Perkins Marsh in 1864. He realized that the world’s resources were not infinite, and was aware of the importance of natural systems to soil, water, climate, waste disposal, and pest control. In the 1940's, books such as Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac (1949), Fairfield Osborn’s Our Plundered Planet (1948) and William Vogt’s Road to Survival (1948) brought new attention to the issues addressed by Marsh. The first publication that addressed ecosystems providing “services” to human society is Man’s Impact on the Global Environment by the Study of Critical Environmental Problems in 1970. They provided a list of “environmental services”, which was expanded by Holdren and Ehrlich in 1974. In subsequent publications, these services were referred to as “public services of the global ecosystem” and “nature’s services”, and were finally coined as “ecosystem services” by Ehrlich and Ehrlich in 1981. One of the first documents discussing economic valuation of ecosystem services was Proposed Practices for Economic Analysis of River Basin Projects by the Committee on Water Resources in 1958 (Bingham et al. 1995). Valuation of ecosystem continued throughout the next decades (de Groot et al. 2002), but research and attention has expanded greatly since two publications helped the subject gain popularity. The first was a book, edited by Gretchen Daily, called Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems (1997). -
World Bank Document
LibrarY\ Public Disclosure Authorized SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE GLOBAL IMPERATIVE MV The Fairfield Osborn Memorial Lecture Public Disclosure Authorized by A. W. Clausen, President Public Disclosure Authorized The World Bank Washington, D.C. November 12, 1981 Public Disclosure Authorized __ J Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. And thank you, Mr. Reilly. I am honored to deliver this year's Fairfield Osborn Memorial Lecture in Environmental Science. I believe I'm the first banker ever to be selected for this honor, wh-ch has traditionally been accorded to distinguished conservationists. Fairfield Osborn himself, however, was a businessman -- an investment broker, who was concerned both about short-term economic development and also about its long-term sustainability. As founder and then president of the Conservation Foundation, a cosponsor of this memorial lecture, Osborn worked until his death in 1969 to arouse the concern of people everywhere to the "...accumulated velocity with which (man) is destroying his own life sources." In his book, Our Plundered Planet, which appeared in 1948, Osborn wrote: "We are rushing forward unthinkingly through days of incredible accomplishment...and we have forgotten the earth, forgotten it in the sense that we are failing to regard it as the source of our life." -2- Fairfield Osborn insisted that the only kind of development that makes sense is development .that can be sustained. Beginning, then, from this basic premise, I'll make three main points tonight: - first, that if our goal is sustainable development, our perspective must be global; - second, that human development must allow for continued economic growth, especially in the Third World, if it is to be sustainable; and - third, that sustainable development requires vigorous attention to resource management and the environment. -
Some Historical Notes on Ecological Sensibilities in Modern Western Culture
Some Historical Notes on Ecological Sensibilities in Modern Western Culture A revised version of a lecture given in the School of Economics of the University of Hyderabad in 2014 by Mark Lindley In Western culture since ca.1800, ecological sensibilities, though hardly dominant, have cropped up now and then in one way and another. This essay will include succinct descriptions of some examples illus- trating various points of concern (highlighted in bold-face font). • In 1798, Thomas Malthus, a top English economist of the generation after Adam Smith, had said that “The power [i.e. rate] of [human] population [increase] is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race.” He said it would happen by means of “war, pestilence, [and] famine”. (The number of humans at that time was about one thousand million.) • In 1804, William Blake published a powerful poem (though only 16 lines long) contrasting (a) the working conditions in the English cotton mills and the air pollution which their coal-burning steam engines were causing, with (b) a utopian concept of a green “new Jerusalem” in England where, he imagined, Jesus had supposedly once visited. Some lines from the poem are: “And did the Countenance Divine / Shine forth upon our clouded hills? / And was Jerusalem buildèd here / Among these dark Satanic mills?”. (A musical setting of this poem is beloved today in England. Many Brits want it to be the national anthem.) • In 1797, a French hydraulic engineer, Jean Antoine Fabre, published a book explaining (among other things) how streams flowing fast on micro-watersheds become torrents ravaging fertile valley floors. -
How Do Environmental Enterprise Systems Contribute to Sustainability Value? a Practitioner-Oriented Framework
Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) ACIS 2016 Proceedings Australasian (ACIS) 2016 How do environmental enterprise systems contribute to sustainability value? A practitioner-oriented framework Giang Hoang RMIT University, [email protected] Alemayehu Molla RMIT University, [email protected] Pak-Lok Poon RMIT University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2016 Recommended Citation Hoang, Giang; Molla, Alemayehu; and Poon, Pak-Lok, "How do environmental enterprise systems contribute to sustainability value? A practitioner-oriented framework" (2016). ACIS 2016 Proceedings. 59. https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2016/59 This material is brought to you by the Australasian (ACIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been accepted for inclusion in ACIS 2016 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contact [email protected]. Australasian Conference on Information Systems Hoang et al. 2016, Wollongong NSW The value of environmental enterprise systems HOW DO ENVIRONMENTAL ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABILITY VALUE? A PRACTITIONER-ORIENTED FRAMEWORK Giang Hoang School of Business IT and Logistics RMIT University Melbourne, Australia Email: [email protected] Alemayehu Molla School of Business IT and Logistics RMIT University Melbourne, Australia Email: [email protected] Pak-Lok Poon School of Business IT and Logistics RMIT University Melbourne, Australia Email: [email protected] Abstract Environmental enterprise systems (EES) are integrated software services that offer a platform to automate and manage environmental sustainability processes, data, risk and reporting. EES are widely used in organisations, but their benefits depend on nurturing value creating mechanisms and pathways. -
Remote Sensing
remote sensing Review A Review of the Sustainability Concept and the State of SDG Monitoring Using Remote Sensing Ronald C. Estoque National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan; [email protected] or [email protected] Received: 4 April 2020; Accepted: 11 May 2020; Published: 31 May 2020 Abstract: The formulation of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) was a major leap forward in humankind’s quest for a sustainable future, which likely began in the 17th century, when declining forest resources in Europe led to proposals for the re-establishment and conservation of forests, a strategy that embodies the great idea that the current generation bears responsibility for future generations. Global progress toward SDG fulfillment is monitored by 231 unique social-ecological indicators spread across 169 targets, and remote sensing (RS) provides Earth observation data, directly or indirectly, for 30 (18%) of these indicators. Unfortunately, the UN Global Sustainable Development Report 2019—The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development concluded that, despite initial efforts, the world is not yet on track for achieving most of the SDG targets. Meanwhile, through the EO4SDG initiative by the Group on Earth Observations, the full potential of RS for SDG monitoring is now being explored at a global scale. As of April 2020, preliminary statistical data were available for 21 (70%) of the 30 RS-based SDG indicators, according to the Global SDG Indicators Database. Ten (33%) of the RS-based SDG indicators have also been included in the SDG Index and Dashboards found in the Sustainable Development Report 2019—Transformations to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. -
Virginia Pollution Prevention Case Study Roanoke Cement Company
Virginia Pollution Prevention Case Study Roanoke Cement Company Company Information Roanoke Cement Company (RCC) is a limestone mining and processing facility located in Botetourt County and bordered by the Jefferson National Forest and the Appalachian Mountains. Roanoke Cement currently uses about 100 of the 2,500 acres that it owns. Roanoke Cement began production in 1951 and was acquired by Titan America LLC in 1999. It is the only active cement plant in Virginia, serving Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Washington D.C. Roanoke Cement makes sustainable development a top priority by combining business goals such as long-term economic performance with respect for people and the environment. Roanoke Cement’s vision is to be recognized as a leading enterprise in its industry on sustainability and environmental stewardship. It implements this vision by monitoring its environmental performance and continually making improvements. Environmental Challenges and Opportunities After evaluating the cement-making process with programs and procedures in place to mitigate potentially adverse effects on the environment, RCC pinpointed mineral extraction, energy consumption, and air quality as areas with the greatest impact. Correspondingly, plant managers and staff meet biweekly to discuss progress in these areas, as well as possible developing problems. These meetings allow RCC’s team to identify areas of improvement and adjust accordingly. Cement manufacturing has only one by-product – cement kiln dust. It was thought years ago that this product could not be used in any other application; however, recently the industry has learned that the material can be consumed in producing masonry cements. -
The Fashion Industry As a Slippery Discursive Site: Tracing the Lines of Flight Between Problem and Intervention
THE FASHION INDUSTRY AS A SLIPPERY DISCURSIVE SITE: TRACING THE LINES OF FLIGHT BETWEEN PROBLEM AND INTERVENTION Nadia K. Dawisha A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Communication in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Patricia Parker Sarah Dempsey Steve May Michael Palm Neringa Klumbyte © 2016 Nadia K. Dawisha ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Nadia K. Dawisha: The Fashion Industry as a Slippery Discursive Site: Tracing the Lines of Flight Between Problem and Intervention (Under the direction of Dr. Patricia Parker) At the intersection of the glamorous façade of designer runway shows, such as those in Paris, Milan and New York, and the cheap prices at the local Walmart and Target, is the complicated, somewhat insidious “business” of the fashion industry. It is complicated because it both exploits and empowers, sometimes through the very same practices; it is insidious because its most exploitative practices are often hidden, reproduced, and sustained through a consumer culture in which we are all in some ways complicit. Since fashion’s inception, people and institutions have employed a myriad of discursive strategies to ignore and even justify their complicity in exploitative labor, environmental degradation, and neo-colonial practices. This dissertation identifies and analyzes five predicaments of fashion while locating the multiple interventions that engage various discursive spaces in the fashion industry. Ultimately, the analysis of discursive strategies by creatives, workers, organizers, and bloggers reveals the existence of agile interventions that are as nuanced as the problem, and that can engage with disciplinary power in all these complicated places. -
Sustainable Development of What? Contesting Global Development Concepts and Measures
23 August 2011 Words 6,987/ References 1,537 (total 8,524) Sustainable development of what? Contesting global development concepts and measures Su-ming Khoo School of Political Science & Sociology, National University of Ireland, Galway Introduction Whether we are trying to find out if a particular development situation is sustainable, assess a development trend for sustainability, or compare development performance of different countries or regions, we have inevitably to ask the question: sustainable development of what? This chapter explores efforts to define, measure and compare aspects of development at the global level. The starting point is the proposition that the meanings and definitions of sustainable development are neither static, nor given. Sustainable development has been called a contestable concept, containing competing interpretations and ideas (Jacobs 1991). ‘Sustainability’ is a boundary term, signifying complex interactions between science, politics, policymaking and development (Scoones 2010, 153-4). ‘Development’ is similarly emergent and contested, with different understandings emerging over time and space. This fluidity has allowed different actors to redefine and manipulate the term ‘sustainable development’ to suit their own agendas (Krueger & Gibb 2007, 8). Sustainable development must gain intellectual clarity and rigour and give up politically expedient fuzziness, if it is to have an impact (Lélé 1991, 607). The conceptual and empirical challenges converge in concerns with measurement - ‘if sustainability is to mean anything, it must be measurable’ (Hamilton & Atkinson 2006, xi). Debates about the meaning and measurement of sustainable development are usually situated within efforts to ‘green’ national accounting. These debates appear somewhat technical, but questions concerning what measures to choose and how to integrate different measures reflect profound, even radical efforts to redefine how societies think about, and value, social progress and wealth. -
Transformation to Enterprise Sustainability Case Studies of Manufacturing and Service Enterprise in Thailand
TRANSFORMATION TO ENTERPRISE SUSTAINABILITY CASE STUDIES OF MANUFACTURING AND SERVICE ENTERPRISE IN THAILAND Chavatip Chindavijak Kasetsart University, Thailand [email protected] Kongkiti Phusavat Kasetsart University, Thailand [email protected] Pekka Kess Oulu University, Finland [email protected] Suparerk Sooksamarn Kasetsart Univesity, Thailand [email protected] Abstract: Emerging literature on enterprise sustainability suggests that all types of enterprise may adopt “Triple Bottom Line” approach to facilitate enterprise to sustainability. However, there is still a relatively limited understanding of how such sustainability might be implemented and measured in enterprise practice including manufacturing industry as well as especially in service industry. This paper presents preliminary findings from a case study of Thailand enterprises that play key role to supply product and service to the larger manufacturing company and corporation. Learning from the case study provides interesting insights into the drivers, enablers, and some unanticipated additional benefits of service industry sustainability measurement beyond the compliance, and so contributes to extending the existing body of knowledge. Keywords: Enterprise Sustainability, Enterprise Sustainability Measurement, Sustainability in Service Sector, Strategic Sustainability in Small and Medium Enterprise 121 1.0 Introduction Most of enterprise executives know sustainability challenge will shuffle the business from leader to loser depend on how they response to this changes. The way to create value creation will be changed to align with sustainability principle. In fact, based on the academic and practitioner implication, the sustainability must be the critical issues for enterprise to position themselves to survive for their economic benefit and also creating environmental and social value simultaneously. As known that sustainability performance is now generally understood as the combination of economic, social, and environmental performance. -
Social and Environmental Enterprises in the Green Economy: Supporting Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication on the Ground
Social and Environmental Enterprises in the Green Economy: Supporting sustainable development and poverty eradication on the ground Analysis of a 3 year study for policy makers Report produced by Heather Creech, Gabriel A. Huppé, Leslie Paas and Vivek Voora, IISD (May 2012) © 2012 World Conservation Monitoring Centre Published by the SEED Initiative and the International Institute for Sustainable Development The SEED Initiative is a global partnership for action on sustainable development and the green economy. Founded by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, SEED supports innovative small scale and locally driven entrepreneurships around the globe which integrate social and environmental benefits into their business model. SEED is hosted by the UNEP/World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Current partners include the United Nations Environ- ment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature); European Union; the governments of Germany, India, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America; Conservation International; and Hisense. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) contributes to sustainable development by advancing policy rec- ommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change, measurement and assessment, and natu- ral resources management, and the enabling role of communication technologies in these areas. Through the Internet, we report on international negotiations and share knowledge gained through collaborative projects with global partners, resulting in more rigorous research, capacity building in developing countries and better dialogue between North and South. IISD‘s vision is better living for all—sustainably; its mission is to champion innovation, enabling societies to live sustainably. -
On the Economics of Ecosystem Services
On the Economics of Ecosystem Services Draft 2 Huib Silvis en Martijn van der Heide Commissioned by the Netherlands WOT Natuur en Milieu 1. Introduction 1.1 Objectives 1.2 Context 1.3 Structure of this report 2. Classification of ecosystem services 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Typology of ecosystem services 2.3 Ecosystem services and ecosystem dis-services 3. From pre-classical economics to modern economics 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Pre-classical economics 3.3 Classical economics 3.4 Neo-classical economics 3.5 Modern economics 4. Insights from environmental and ecological economics 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Reasoning of environmental economics 4.3 Market failures 4.4 Criticisms from ecological economics 5. Valuation of ecosystem services 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Categories of values and the concept of total economic value 5.3 Monetary valuation ecosystem services 6. Policy analysis and design 6.1 Tools 6.2 Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) 6.3 Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) 6.4 Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) 6.5 Safe minimum standards approach and the precautionary principle 6.6 Design References Annex: Methods for valuing ecosystem services 1 1. Introduction 1.1 Objectives In economic terms ecosystems must be regarded as a special form of capital assets. Like reproducible capital assets (roads, buildings, and machinery), ecosystems depreciate if they are misused or are overused. But ecosystems differ from reproducible capital assets in several ways. Depreciation of natural capital may be irreversible, or the systems take a long time to recover. Generally speaking, it isn’t possible to replace a depleted or degraded ecosystem by a new one. -
Empower Women, Save the Planet? Science, Strategy, and Population-Environment Advocacy
Empower Women, Save the Planet? Science, Strategy, and Population-Environment Advocacy By Jade Sasser A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy & Management in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Nancy Lee Peluso, Chair Professor Louise Fortmann Professor Carolyn Finney Professor Lawrence Cohen Spring 2012 Empower Women, Save the Planet? Science, Strategy, and Population-Environment Advocacy © 2012 by Jade Sasser Abstract Empower Women, Save the Planet? Science, Strategy, and Population-Environment Advocacy by Jade Sasser Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management University of California, Berkeley Professor Nancy Peluso, Chair This dissertation is about the problems of global population and women’s fertility as constructed, circulated and contested among a network of American environmental actors. The first decade of the new millennium witnessed an upsurge in environmentalist attention to population trends, particularly in the context of widespread attention to climate change. Using ethnographic research conducted among a network of U.S. foreign aid donors, environmental, population and family planning NGO managers, and college youth activists, this dissertation asks the questions: What- and who- is driving the renewed focus on population growth as a driver of ecological crisis? What strategies are being used to drive a linked population-environment development agenda forward, and what effects do these strategies have on population science, policy, and political debates? I argue that, rather than reprise familiar neo-Malthusian arguments, these actors draw on scientific knowledge and social justice frameworks, to position population- environment advocacy in the realm of progressive politics.