The European Commission launches TEEB follow-up study for Europe

TEEB follow-up study for Europe: a synthesis of approaches to assess and value ecosystem services in the EU.

During the 10^th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan (2010), the European Commission announced that it would continue to support work on the valuation of ecosystem services and, inter alia, would launch a study examining opportunities for implementing TEEB analyses in a European Union (EU) context.

Taking into account the needs related to the implementation of the new EU Biodiversity Strategy, and other related on-going activities, the European Commission decided to launch a study supporting implementation of Action 5 of the Strategy, which notes that: 'Member States, with the assistance of the Commission, will map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territory by 2014, assess the economic value of such services, and promote the integration of these values into accounting and reporting systems at EU and national level by 2020'.

More specifically, the study will evaluate recent and on-going initiatives focused on assessing the economic value of ecosystem services and the integration of these values into accounting and reporting systems at EU and national level. The study will also explore how these initiatives, including the various European national TEEB studies, could be articulated in a coherent framework and feed into an EU-level ecosystem assessment.

The Institute of Environment Studies (IVM) at the University of Amsterdam has been contracted to produce the year-long study, which was launched in December 2011.

Edward Norton, Actor/Filmaker and United Nations Ambassador for Biodiversity, joins the TEEB Advisory Board to help build awareness of TEEB concepts internationally.

Norton sees poverty, development and conservation as the great challenges of the 21st Century. "We rely on healthy ecosystems to support our lives. The challenge is how we, and in particular poor communities in developing countries, can thrive without destroying some of the world's most important natural resources. Understanding the value of nature is a key step in addressing these challenges. I can see that TEEB helps us recognise that value and provides tools to reward those who are looking after our natural resources in a responsible and sustainable way. So I want to do my bit to help raise awareness of these concepts and bring them into the mainstream." 

Norton is a two-time Academy Award nominated actor and filmmaker who has starred in, produced or directed over 25 films. A long-time advocate for environmental protection and global sustainability, he was appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon as the sole United Nations Ambassador for Biodiversity in 2010. He is the president of the Board of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, a community based effort to preserve the legendary Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem of southern Kenya by promoting sustainable natural resource based economic development through PES models very much in line with TEEB. He is also the co-founder of Crowdrise, one of the leading web based platforms in the world supporting grassroots fundraising for charities.

TEEB at UNFCCC  COP17 Conference - Durban, South Africa

Image: Johannes Förster representing TEEB at the COP17, Durban, South Africa

For the last two weeks, governments, scientists and civil society have gathered in Durban, South Africa for the 17th Conference of Parties, to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As part of the conference TEEB was represented in two side events highlighting the benefits of TEEB in developing a Green Economy and a more environmentally sustainable future.

EVENT 1: Local Government Day at the Rio Conventions’ Pavilion: Climate Smart Cities: Local Governments Planning with Nature
Date: Monday, December 5, 2011
Venue: Rio Conventions’ Pavilion

Title of Session: Cities as Green Economic Drivers: Ecosystem Services for Climate Smart Cities

Organisers:
• ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability,
• UN-Habitat,
• South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), and
• Agence Française de Développement (AFD)

Session Description
“The Rio Conventions’ Pavilion is an outreach platform that explores synergies and alignment between the three Rio Conventions: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Rio Pavilion aims to raise awareness and enable information sharing about the latest practices and scientific findings on the co-benefits that can be realized through alignment and implementation of the three Conventions.”

“Climate Smart Cities: Local Governments Planning with Nature examined the linkages between the three Conventions at the local level, and discussed mechanisms to improve coordination throughout government levels, from the Conventions down to local governments. As local governments are usually the implementers of changes on the ground, and their actions contribute to achieving national government targets and objectives, it is necessary to determine methods to improve support and coordination between national and local Government levels.”

TEEB participation
As part of this session, Johannes Förster from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) presented the ‘TEEB Manual for Cities’. Johannes’ presentation highlighted, with the help of practical examples, the economic role of ecosystem services in cities and their relevance for urban planning. Examples included, among others, the role of forests and wetlands for the provision of drinking water and flood control. The TEEB 6-step approach was demonstrated providing guidance to decision makers on how to apply the ecosystem service concept for solving problems at the local level in a cost efficient way.  

At the same session ICLEI launched its tool HEAT+ for helping cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. Furthermore, a tool for helping cities to adapt to climate change developed by the GRaBS Project, the South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas, and a case study from the City of eThekwini on enhancing green livelihoods for poverty alleviation were presented.

About 40 professionals from municipalities and cities from around the world, and South Africa in particular, attended the session.

EVENT 2: Business, Economics and Synergies
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Venue: Rio Conventions’ Pavilion

Title of Session: Innovative Financing: Harnessing the Value of TEEB

Organiser:
• South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs
• South African National Treasury

Session Description
The present financial crisis has prompted economies around the world to urgently review their  economic growth paths. The Green Economy also merged during a time when governments, industry and civil society need to be most creative. Innovative financial mechanisms such payment for ecosystem services, biodiversity offsets, environmental fiscal reforms, market for green products, business-biodiversity partnerships and charity, are emerging as new and innovative sources of international development finance, climate change funding and biodiversity. This trend has also been facilitated at a time when the world reviewed for the first time the  findings of the global flagship TEEB initiative. This event aims to further the dialogue on unpacking the economic value of Biodiversity and Ecosystems services as a resource mobilization tool for the environment sector and to look at Best Practices and Challenges on localised and institutionalised  TEEB initiatives.

TEEB participation
At the event practical examples from Tanzania and South Africa were presented providing insights in the role that business can play in biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management. Lessons learned were shared and challenges and opportunities were discussed. In a panel discussion Johannes Förster shared insights on this subject from a TEEB perspective. Some of the conclusions were that:

•     biodiversity and ecosystems should be at the centre of a Green Economy due to their 
       renewable capacity and the services they provide to broad range of sectors.
•     policies and regulations are need that allow the sharing of access to and benefits from 
       biodiversity and ecosystems as many of the goods and services are of value for society at 
       large.
•     accounting for the value of ecosystems and biodiversity and including it in the balance sheets 
       is the first step for taking into account the value of ecosystems and biodiversity in decision 
       making in business and the public sector.   

About 30 people attended the event.

TEEB course held at Yale

Yale University and TEEB teamed up to create a course on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity.

The course is designed to train students in the foundations of valuation of ecosystem services, dynamic interactions of people and ecosystems and their impacts on local communities, sub-national and national policy and international agreements. Issues covered include challenges in valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services, particularly in developing countries, some core frameworks & methodologies for such valuation, local and national policy solutions, and business responses. The course uses case studies to explore the impacts on biodiversity of fiscal & economic policies and market mechanisms, including subsidies, property rights regimes, PES schemes, REDD+, and industry studies.

TEEB@Yale has been conducted by Pavan Sukhdev together with several external expert speakers who are practitioners in the fields of natural resource management, international development and ecosystem services.

All of the lectures from the course have been filmed and uploaded onto the TEEB@YALE website. Some of the highlights from the lecture series can also be viewed below. 

Highlights from Introduction to Valuing Nature: TEEB@Yale               

Highlights from Valuation Approaches & Paradigms Part 1: TEEB@YALE
Highlights from Valuation Approaches & Paradigms Part 2: TEEB@YALE
Highlights from Valuation Approaches & Paradigms Part 3: TEEB@YALE

Norwegian Government establishes expert committee for TEEB valuation of Norway’s Natural Capital

The Norwegian Government has agreed that nationally there is a need for a better overview of the country’s ecosystem services and the impact these can have on economic development and long-term welfare, and also the kinds of impact the loss and degradation of ecosystems may create. Norway has established a national committee to take these considerations forward, building on the work carried out by TEEB. The Norwegian application of TEEB processes will help to follow up the Norwegian obligations under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD strategic plan for 2011 - 2020 has a goal that says "No later than in 2020, values ​​of biodiversity integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes, and if possible incorporated in the national accounts and reporting systems".

The established committee, consisting of twelve national experts, is tasked to determine the status and trends for the Norwegian biodiversity and ecosystem services, and point to the ecosystems that are under stress or in decline and the main reasons for this. One of the key objectives is to identify ecosystem services that are at risk of deteriorating and calculate the loss of benefits this entails in the short and long term. The committee will consider whether it would be possible to correct this damage, and estimate the costs associated with this. There will be particular emphasis on the ecosystem services that are important to address climate change and anticipated land use changes (cf. ecological infrastructure). The committee will review and evaluate existing studies of the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services ​​in Norway, as well as reports from surrounding areas and / or similar nature. The assessment of different valuation methods and visualization of ecosystem services, and an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages and the potential for monetary valuation is also an integral part of the committee’s work. The committee will also engage with wider groups of stakeholders, including relevant economic sectors and the research community.  The deadline for work is 31 August 2013.

The document outlining the Terms of Reference of the committee can be downloaded here.

 For further details contact: Birthe Ivars: Birthe.Ivars@md.dep.no

TEEB gains traction in Korea

In February 2011, a TEEB Korean Committee was created to introduce the TEEB study and its related activities in Republic of Korea. Their first action was to translate the TEEB Synthesis Report into the Korean language.Over ten volunteer translators from public and private sector participated in the project.

The Korean version of the report is available at on the Synthesis report tab on this website. The Korean Committee is seeking funds to be able to translate the other TEEB reports and is planning to establish local networks to promote TEEB studies and activities.

For further information contact Juhern Kim: zestor33@gmail.com

Brazil moves forward with TEEB - national, state and business studies aim for Rio+20

The Brazilian Ministry for Environment announced their intention to undertake a TEEB Brazil study at the CBD COP10 meeting in October 2010. The lead organizations for TEEB Brazil are: The Brazilian Ministry for the Environment, UNEP, Conservation International and the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA). The study will have a two year time frame. An interim report will be released at RIO+20 in 2012. An Advisory Board is being appointed with membership comprised of civil society, government, academia, and business associations. It is planned that the Advisory Board will also provide the linkage between the TEEB Brazil study and the State and Business studies also being initiated.

There has been considerable interest from a number of Brazilian States for the implementation of State studies. The State of Sao Paulo hopes to start work on the TEEB Sao Paulo study in 2011, with an interim report also for release at RIO+20. The Brazilian National Industry Confederation, in association with UNEP, World Conservation Monitoring Centre and Conservation International launched the TEEB Business Brazil study in October 2011.

For further information contact:
Helena Pavese, Conservation International, Brasilia h.pavese@conservation.org.br
Elisa Tonda, UNEP Brazil, elisa.tonda@pnuma.org

TEEB Workshops

TEEB would like to thank all of those involved in developing and organising a series of workshops to help disseminate the findings and recommendations of TEEB. The workshops, funded by the European Commission and the UK,  took place in March at a number of locations around the world.

A four day  capacity building workshop for the Caribbean took place at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 28 – 31 March 2011. The course was an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), through its Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in close coordination with the Ecosystem Services Economics Unit - DEPI, the support of the TEEB team and in close cooperation with the University of West Indies and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.  The course aimed at building capacity of high level environmental economists from Caribbean countries on methodologies to estimate the economic benefits of biodiversity, the growing costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, to lead and develop studies on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity at the country level.  Consideration was also given to the regional initiative, carried out by UNDP with the support of UNEP, entitled “Biodiversity and Ecosystems: Why these are Important for Sustained Growth and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

The Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection China organised a one day workshop in Beijing for national and regional policy makers in China. Around 80 participants were involved. The day looked at TEEB and its main findings; China’s environmental finance and eco-compensation, valuation methodologies and policy instruments relevant to the Chinese context.

In Corrientes, Argentina, AVINA teamed up with TEEB to run a regional workshop for local/regional policy makers, technical directors and public managers. The two day workshop involved around 30 people from across the region. The first day focused on ecosystems and their role in planning and local tourism development. The following day was spent on the TEEB stepwise approach for considering ecosystem services.

A workshop in Dubrovsky on the outskirts of Moscow was organised in partnership with the Biodiversity Conservation Center. Around 70 representatives of scientific, governmental and public organizations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan attended. The main target of the conference was to consider possibilities and variants of adaptation of the ecosystem services concept to peculiarities of socioeconomic development of Newly Independent States (NIS) and to try to elaborate recommendations on concrete steps.

In Cape Town, ICLEI made TEEB a key part of its major congress Local Climate Solutions for Africa 2011 (LOCS2011). This was the first such congress undertaken by ICLEI – Africa’s Urban Leadership for African Sustainability (ULAS) programme, and over 380 registered participants attended from over 50 African cities, including mayors and high-level dignitaries from more than 25 West, East, Central and Southern African countries. TEEB was a major core theme of LOCS2011, other themes included climate adaptation and mitigation, and water. A two hour session dedicated to TEEB, a full day technical workshop on TEEB, a mobile workshop and site tour focused on the subject as well as plenary session summary of the TEEB sessions were offered as part of the LOCS2011 programme.  ICLEI received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the TEEB delegates who attended the Local Climate Solutions for Africa 2011 Congress (LOCS2011), especially with regards to the TEEB focused sessions.

In India a TEEB Workshop for Media was organized and run as part of UNEP’s World Environment Day Celebrations in New Delhi. Around 60 journalists from across India, Nepal, Bhutan. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka participated in the session as speakers from TEEB, the Indian, Norwegian and German governments all gave insights into TEEB recommendations, how TEEB is being picked up in India (see article in this newsletter) and why governments are supporting TEEB.

If you are interested in discussing potential partnerships for TEEB outreach workshops contact: benjamin.simmons@unep.org, or georgina.langdale@unep.org