A Handbook for Understanding Natural Capital - Earth Economics

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit: Standardizing the Way We Capture and Report Value Earth Economics has created the web-based Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit (http://esvaluation.org) to translate scientific knowledge of ecosystems and the value of the services they provide seamlessly into information readily accessible by and usable to decision-makers. With ready access to this kind of organized scientific data, decisionmakers can more easily factor sustainability into key decisions and policies. This systematic, effective research and computational tool has already proven successful at merging ecological and economic information to inform the financial sector, government, individuals, corporations, and other economic actors. 25
The EVT platform accepts geographic and biophysical inputs, and outputs economic values with associated science-based ESV modeling and analytical tools. Researchers, land managers, planners, and policy makers can use EVT to reduce the cost of valuation from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds. Broad adoption and application of the EVT by government agencies, NGOs, and businesses will result in stronger networks of protected areas, rigorous benchmarks for environmental incentives and penalties, and greater understanding of the economic importance of natural capital. When a discipline reaches a certain state of maturity, the standardization of language, taxonomies, applications, and methods is required to go to scale. When standards are adopted and data becomes readily accessible, phenomenal growth occurs and novel applications are developed. The fields of mathematics, information technology, and genetics have all undergone a standardization process similar to the one EVT is enabling for economics. EVT offers a way to map monetary values onto the physical world. These values, incorporated into economic frameworks, can help direct policy and inspire solutions to our most pressing environmental problems. By making ecosystem service valuations more accessible, EVT will help prepare us for a sustainable future, economically and environmentally. EVT offers a way to map monetary values onto the physical world. These values, incorporated into economic frameworks, can help direct policy and inspire solutions to our most pressing environmental problems. By making ecosystem service valuations more accessible, EVT will help prepare us for a sustainable future, economically and environmentally. 26
Page 1 and 2: WHAT IS YOUR PLANET WORTH A Handboo
Page 3 and 4: suggested citation Schrier, A. V.,
Page 5 and 6: Things are changing! Exciting metho
Page 7 and 8: BENEFITS OF A HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM Wha
Page 9 and 10: WHAT DO WE PAY FOR THESE SERVICES T
Page 11 and 12: SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM As ecosyste
Page 13 and 14: Built Capital Natural Capital Defin
Page 15 and 16: s in action WATERSHEDS The federal
Page 17: s in action MANGROVE FORESTS Mangro
Page 21 and 22: MAKING A CASE FOR INVESTING IN ECOS
Page 23: Are Values of Ecosystem Services th
Page 26 and 27: Who uses Ecosystem Service Valuatio
Page 31 and 32: IS CALCULATING AN ECOSYSTEM’S VAL
Page 33: Creative Funding Concepts Engage th
Page 37 and 38: ABOUT EARTH ECONOMICS Since 1998, t
Page 39 and 40: Resource Primary Developer Descript
Page 41 and 42: CITATIONS 1 Vitousek, P., Ehrlich,
Page 43 and 44: IMAGE CITATIONS PAGE CITATION PAGE

A Handbook for Understanding Natural Capital - Earth Economics

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?