Search

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) includes a set of natural capital-based measures to adapt to climate change. UN Environment has called for measuring EbA costs and benefits before promoting the adoption of such a policy. Within such policy input, the paper objective is twofold. It first performs a critical survey of economic and valuation studies that measure the costs and benefits of undertaking EBA measures. It then proposes an integrated valuation approach, based on a set of 54 economic indicators that include ecological aspects and encompass the technical, financial and academic difficulties to perform thorough cost-benefit exercises, by providing policymakers with simple, though rigorous evidence.

The concept of ecosystem services, especially in combination with economic valuation, can illuminate trade-offs involved in soil management, policy and governance, and thus support decision making. In this paper, we investigate and highlight the potential and limitations of the economic valuation of soil-based ecosystem services to inform sustainable soil management and policy. We formulate a definition of soil-based ecosystem services as basis for conducting a review of existing soil valuation studies with a focus on the inclusion of ecosystem services and the choice of valuation methods. We find that, so far, the economic valuation of soil-based ecosystem services has covered only a small number of such services and most studies have employed cost-based methods rather than state-of-the-art preference-based valuation methods, even though the latter would better acknowledge the public good character of soil related services. Therefore, the relevance of existing valuation studies for political processes is low. Broadening the spectrum of analyzed ecosystem services as well as using preferencebased methods would likely increase the informational quality and policy relevance of valuation results. We point out options for improvement based on recent advances in economic valuation theory and practice. We conclude by investigating the specific roles economic valuation results can play in different phases of the policy-making process, and the specific requirements for its usefulness in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in economics is anthropocentric. It only cares about the welfare of humans and usually does not concern itself with animals. When it does, animals are treated as resources, biodiversity, or food. That is, animals only have instrumental value for humans. Yet, unlike water, trees, or vegetables, and like humans, most animals have a brain and a nervous system. They can feel pain and pleasure and many argue that their welfare should matter. Some economic studies value animal welfare, but only indirectly through humans' altruistic valuation. This overall position of economics is inconsistent with the utilitarian tradition and can be qualified as speciesist. We suggest that economics should directly value the welfare of sentient animals, at least sometimes. We briefly discuss some possible implications and challenges for (environmental) economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recent experimental frameworks for national ecosystem service accounting have shown substantial progress, in our view some crucial methodological issues remain that deserve further consideration before setting final standards. In response to the landmark work of Obst et al. (Environ Resour Econ 64:1-23, 2016. doi:10.1007/s10640-015-9921-1), we provide arguments with regard to the suitability of particular valuation approaches. Generally, we agree that respective valuation methods need to produce values that are consistent with national accounting standards such as representing exchange values. However, we disagree with their conclusions regarding specific valuation techniques. Firstly, the circumstance that methods used for estimating shadow prices can also be used to derive consumer surplus does not justify the general exclusion of all shadow pricing methods for valuation of ecosystem services for national accounts, especially for public ecosystem services. Secondly, that preference-based methods can also be used to assess welfare changes does not imply that cost-based methods are generally better suited for ecosystem accounting. To the contrary, we see an essential need for preference information in accounting contexts. Thirdly, that accounting standards use a written-down replacement cost approach, does not mean ecosystem accounting requires to employ a replacement cost approach. To the contrary, we argue that assessing ecosystem degradation through restoration costs would be in line with writing down depreciation, but we also point to its limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first to compare the economic value of bear viewing and trophy hunting of both grizzly (Ursus arctos) and black bears (Ursus americanus) in the Great Bear Rainforest (GBR) in British Columbia (BC), Canada. We assess trends in these two sectors of wildlife recreation over several decades and analyse their economic impacts based on 2012 data. We examine both non-resident bear hunting with guide outfitters and independent local (resident) hunters, as well as bear viewing offered by tourism companies in the GBR. We provide strong evidence that bear viewing in the GBR is generating far more economic value: bear-viewing companies generated over 12 times more in visitor spending than guided non-resident and independent resident hunters combined ($15.1 million versus $1.2 million) and 11 times more in government revenues ($7.3 million versus $660,5001). Such findings should be useful to policy-makers in determining allocations of public resources and priorities for conservation efforts. In our assessment, if bear viewing expands at its current rate, the economy of the GBR will experience few negative impacts from a ban on bear hunting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic approaches continue to gain traction in biodiversity policy, particularly encouraged by theTEEB initiative (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity). While proponents of this paradigm shift consider it a win-win situation for nature and humans, its critics fear counterproductive effects of an increased commodification of nature. This article demonstrates the political and institutional implications of economic valuation and the use of economic instruments, and discusses challenges for policy implementation. Our results show, first, that economic valuation can be a worthwhile tool for assessing the value of nature, but its results must be interpreted carefully, and second, that it is important to consider the economic approach in its anthropocentric framework and tofocus on the careful design of biodiversity-related economic instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a unified approach to correcting for avidity bias due to onsite sampling in estimation of descriptive statistics and recreation demand. We extend the Shaw (1988) correction for avidity bias in demand modeling to the Generalized Negative Binomial model, and we demonstrate the effects of avidity bias on descriptive statistics. Correcting for avidity bias in recreation demand lowers welfare estimates, which are still, however, quite large at $403/household, per trip (2002 USD). Correcting expenditure estimates increases economic impact by 17%, reflecting greater magnitude in spending patterns of less avid users that live further from Cape Hatteras National Seashore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mangroves are recognized as a provider of a variety of products and essential ecosystem services that contribute significantly to the livelihood of local communities. However, over the past decades, mangroves in many tropical areas including the Takalar district, South Sulawesi have degraded and decreased mainly due to conversion to aquaculture. Currently, little is known about the economic benefits of commercialization of aquaculture as compared to those derived from mangroves in the form of products and services. Here, we estimate the Total Economic Value (TEV) of mangrove benefits in order to compare it with the benefit value of commercial aquaculture. Market prices, replacement costs, benefit transfer value and Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBA) have been used for value determination and comparison. The results show that the per year TEV of mangroves in the study area (Takalar district, South Sulawesi) was in the range of 4370 thousands USD (kUSD) to 10,597 kUSD or 4 kUSD to 8 kUSD per hectare (the highest value contribution derived from the indirect use value (94%)), whereas commercial aquaculture had a net benefit value of 228 kUSD or 3 kUSD per hectare. In addition, the comparison of Net Present Value (NPV) between the benefit value of mangroves and that of commercial aquaculture revealed that conversion of mangroves into commercial aquaculture was not economically beneficial when the analysis was expanded to cover the costs of environmental and forest rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously, we quantified a decline in the marginal economic value of wind and PV with increasing penetration levels based on a long-run equilibrium investment and dispatch model that accounted for operational constraints for conventional generation. We use the same model and data, based loosely on California in 2030, to evaluate several options to stem the decline in value of these technologies. The largest increase in the value of wind at high penetration levels comes from increased geographic diversity. The largest increase in the value of PV at high penetration levels comes from assuming that low-cost bulk power storage is an investment option. Other attractive options, particularly at more modest penetration levels, include real-time pricing and technology diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, Jatropha seeds are mainly used to produce biodiesel, and a resultant press cake is obtained as a by-product. Jatropha press cake fractionation and conversion into various potential products using biorefinery, could improve the economic value of Jatropha seed. The objectives of this study were to calculate the potential generated income and economic value of products from Jatropha. These were classified into two product groups: 1) Rural products, and 2) Industrial products. The potential generated income is the summation of the net profit and the labour costs. Using the national gross domestic product (GDP) per capita as a reference, we calculated and compared the potential economic value, which expresses the number of people that could obtain a certain income for every hectare of Jatropha plantation, in five selected countries. These countries consisted of four developing countries: Tanzania, Mali, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia, and a developed country, the Netherlands. This study shows that the potential generated income from rural products per hectare of (imported) Jatropha was much lower than the income of one person in Indonesia and the Netherlands. In Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Mali, the potential economic value per hectare Jatropha suggests that manufacturing rural products can generate potential income for one person. Manufacturing industrial products can generate potential income for one person in the Netherlands and approx. 7–39 people in Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Mali. In conclusion, the potential generated income is highly dependent on the GDP per capita and the price of the selected products in each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We use a consistent economic framework to estimate the long-run economic value of wind while including operational constraints for conventional generation and hourly variation in wind and load. Day-ahead forecast errors in wind are corrected in the real-time, after commitment decisions for many thermal generators have already been made. The framework is used to estimate the change in the marginal economic value of wind with increasing penetration in the Rocky Mountain Power Area of the USA. We also evaluate the marginal economic benefit to wind energy of implementing several strategies to manage wind energy variability and uncertainty: more flexible conventional generation, real-time pricing, low cost bulk energy storage, and increased geographic diversity of wind plant siting. Without mitigation, the marginal economic value of wind is found to decrease by $21 MWh (37% of the marginal value of wind at 0% penetration) as wind penetration increases from 0% to 30%. The decline is largely because of the hourly profile of wind output and day-ahead wind energy forecast errors; factors whose impact is reduced by the mitigation strategies. With mitigation, the marginal value of wind at the 30% penetration level is $6-$11 MWh greater than the value without the measures (17-31% increase in value). Although the marginal value of wind energy decreases with increasing penetration in this region, several different types of mitigation strategies are available and should be investigated in more detail. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in today's corporate world and can contribute to the current and future success of organizations. Integrating ecological, social, and economic objectives into corporate decisions is a key success factor for transformation towards sustainability. As sustainability is not achieved by single actions, but rather is an on-going process, decision-makers must have means to analyze the current state of an organization. For this, we first illustrate how companies can structure the field of action for the transformation towards sustainability. Furthermore, we propose a decision model to determine how sustainability actions should be implemented in accordance with the paradigm of value-based management, i.e., considering their economic effects. We illustrate the application of the approach using the example of a German medium-sized company. Executive summary: Recently, organizations have recognized sustainability as an emerging mega-trend and as an increasingly important strategic goal. Its integration into the business model can be a key success factor, but also a challenge that requires a systematic approach. In order to comprehensively steer corporate sustainability, with the aim of minimizing negative externalities while maximizing positive effects, companies first need to structure their processes to achieve transparency on where sustainability actions can be incorporated. By furthermore considering the three dimensions of sustainability, possible starting points for sustainability actions can be identified. These two perspectives are complemented by adapting the basic idea of stages of development and maturity to sustainability context, as a way to capture the progress of sustainability actions within each corporate activity. The resulting 'Sustainability Maturity Cube' serves as a blueprint, i.e., a first generic approach, of how an organization can structure the field of action for the transformation towards sustainability. Considering the paradigm of value-based management in business context, economic effects of the transformation towards sustainability have to be regarded. We therefore, also propose a decision model, which allows aligning ecological, social and economic objectives in order to draw economically useful conclusions by determining the optimal increase of the sustainability maturity level. To evaluate whether our approach proves useful for subject matter experts who are involved in sustainability decisions, we provide a first example of how a specific company can transform towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry deciduous forests of the eastern lateritic part of India are a typical case where forest valuation is yet to be integrated with the non-timber forest products like wild edible mushrooms (WEMs), which have a wide use in subsistence and cash income. A detailed accounting of the production and utilization of WEMs harvested from that region was made to highlight the economic worth of WEMs to the Santal community of this region. The WEMs production in the forest was in a polynomial pattern during the monsoon period. The net present value of revenues from WEMs was estimated to be contributing 9.83 and 10.29 % of total annual income of a Santal family of the Choupahari and Gonpur forests, respectively. The ecological footprint of the Santal communities on WEMs was higher in the forest area which was closer to the local markets than did the distant ones. Forest areas of the eastern lateritic part of India have a strong potentiality to produce WEMs that may be helpful for socio-economic upliftment of local tribal communities through the development of entrepreneurship and policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural ecosystems benefit human communities by providing ecosystem services such as water purification and crop pollination. Mapping ecosystem service values has become popular, but most are static snapshots of average value. Estimating instead the economic impacts of specific ecosystem changes can better inform typical resource decisions. Here we develop an approach to mapping marginal values, those resulting from the next unit of ecosystem change, across landscapes. We demonstrate the approach with a recent model of crop pollination services in Costa Rica, simulating deforestation events to predict resulting marginal changes in pollination services to coffee farms. We find that marginal losses from deforestation vary from zero to US$700/ha across the landscape. Financial risks for farmers from these losses and marginal benefits of forest restoration show similar spatial variation. Marginal values are concentrated in relatively few forest parcels not identified using average value. These parcels lack substitutes: nearby forest parcels that can supply services in the event of loss. Indeed, the marginal value of forest parcels declines exponentially with the density of surrounding forest cover. The approach we develop is applicable to any ecosystem service. Combined with information on costs, it can help target conservation or restoration efforts to optimize benefits to people and biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Economia is the property of Universidad Catolica del Uruguay Damaso Antonio Larranaga and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: A need exists to increase both knowledge and recognition of the values associated with ecosystem services and amenities. This article explores the use of hedonic pricing as a tool for eliciting these values. We take a case study approach, valuing several services provided by ecosystems, namely aesthetic quality (views), access to outdoor recreation, and the benefits provided by tree cover in Dakota County, Minnesota, USA. Our results indicate that these services are valued by local residents and that hedonic pricing can be used to elicit at least a portion of this value. We find that many aspects of the aesthetic environment significantly impact home sale prices. Total view area as well as the areas of some land-cover types (water and lawn) in views positively influenced home sale prices while views of impervious surfaces generally negatively influenced home sale price. Access to outdoor recreation areas significantly and positively influenced home sale prices as did tree cover in the neighborhood surrounding a home. These results illustrate the ability of hedonic pricing to identify partial values for ecosystem services and amenities in a manner that is highly relevant to local and regional planning. These values could be used to increase policy-maker and public awareness of ecosystem services and could improve their consideration in planning and policy decisions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper we present an estimate of the economic value of carbon sequestration in olive grove soils derived from the implementation of different agricultural management systems. Carbon sequestration is considered jointly with other environmental co-benefits, such as enhanced erosion prevention and increased biodiversity. The estimates have been obtained using choice experiments and show that there is a significant demand from society for these environmental services. From a policy perspective, an agri-environmental scheme that delivers the highest level of each environmental service would be valued by society at 121 Euros per hectare. If we focus on carbon sequestration, each ton of CO2 would be valued at 17 Euros. These results show that there is scope to include agricultural soil carbon sequestration in climate change mitigation strategies and to provide guidance for setting payments for agri-environmental schemes promoting soil management changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The National Park Archipielago Espiritu Santo has been a site of conservation interest to federal agencies, research organization and NGOs, the interest reside on its wide biodiversity. Conservation actions were manifested in the late 70s through the first decade of the 21st century. Actions like include it into UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites. Actually is the protected area with the major number of visitors in Baja California Sur, about 30 thousand, both nationals and foreigners. To demonstrate that the economic benefits are positive to visitors that perform recreational ecotourism, this research proposed to value the aquatic biodiversity of the site using the travel cost method by type of visitor. It is noted that there are different determinants that motivate a visit to the site for both domestic and foreign tourists. The estimates of individual consumer surplus or willingness to pay for access the site are 288 and 8 dollars for foreign and domestic tourist. The main point displayed by the research is that foreign visitors perceive a greater benefit for visiting the site than domestic tourist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temporal–spatial planning of activities for a territorial fire management program requires knowing the value of forest ecosystems. In this paper we extend to and apply the economic valuation principle to the concept of economic vulnerability and present a methodology for the economic valuation of the forest production ecosystems. The forest vulnerability is analyzed from criteria intrinsically associated to the forest characterization, and to the potential behavior of surface fires. Integrating a mapping process of fire potential and analytical valuation algorithms facilitates the implementation of fire prevention planning. The availability of cartography of economic vulnerability of the forest ecosystems is fundamental for budget optimization, and to help in the decision making process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Investment in natural capital restoration is increasing as a response to the widespread ecological degradation of dryland forests. However, finding efficient mechanisms to promote restoration among private landowners is a significant challenge for policy makers with limited financial resources. Furthermore, few attempts have been made to evaluate the costs and benefits of restoration interventions even though this information is relevant to orient decision making. Hence, our goal was to estimate the benefits and costs of dryland forest restoration by means of reforestation with native trees in a study area in central Chile. To determine benefits we applied a Contingent Valuation questionnaire that allowed for the calculation of willingness to pay measures. Restoration costs were calculated based on market prices following existing technical recommendations developed for the study area. The results showed that the restoration project had a negative NPV irrespective of the discount rate applied in the analysis. Thus, the NPV varied between –US$71,000 and –US$258,000. The NPV attained positive results only for negative discount rates (US$15,039 for −2%) and only when the national subsidy available for forest restoration was taken into account. This shows that landowners in Colliguay do not have incentives for carrying out restoration interventions due to a classic market failure: that in which ecosystems are mismanaged because many of their benefits are externalities from the perspective of landowners. Overall, these results stress the need for developing new compensation mechanisms and enhancing those in existence, with the aim of making restoration competitive with other land uses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]