The role of ecosystems in developing a sustainable Green Economy
The second issue of the UNEP Policy Series on Ecosystem Management titled ‘The
role of ecosystems in developing a sustainable ‘Green Economy’discusses how
investing in ecosystems can bring about benefits at local as well as at global
level e.g. in helping communities adapt to climate change (ecosystem based
adaptation), while at the same time enhancing people's livelihoods.
Ecosystems and the benefits they provide (e.g. climate regulation, food
security, freshwater supply, disaster risk reduction) are fundamental to
supporting people’s livelihoods and other life on Earth. Ecosystems play an
unequivocal and increasingly important role in both ecosystem-based mitigation
(carbon sequestration and storage), and ecosystem-based adaptation (i.e.
nature-based societal adaptation to climate change impacts).
Simply put, Green Economy can be considered synonymous to a ‘sustainable’
economy that ensures economic systems conserve natural resources through
balancing growth and equity. Green Economy balances natural resource values
with other values, and takes into account the loss in value of ecosystem
services due to environmental impacts. The requirements for greater valuation
of ecosystem services fit well with other aspirations of the Green Economy in
respect of clean, renewable energy, etc.
The key messages in this paper are:
Ecosystems provide extensive benefits for supporting and enriching people’s
well-being.
Ecosystem benefits are not adequately valued or accounted for in national
accounts and decisions.
Carefully designed response policies for climate change presents an opportunity
to get the valuation process right by investing in both adaptation and
mitigation.
Ecosystem-based adaptation, in particular, can help lead to societal
transformational change.
Embracing and capturing economic values of ecosystem services in mainstream
decision making tools and indicators, for example a national income and growth
matrix, can help in designing effective policies for sustainable growth and
societal well- being.
Investing in a new development model using small-scale fiscal stimulus that
mobilises the untapped potential of local people is imperative for unleashing a
low carbon and Green Economy.
The current economic model driving the world economy is not sustainable. There
is therefore a need for a new approach to economic development where ecosystems
are the underpinning foundations.
Link: Policy Series
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Dr. Richard Tingem Munang
Strategic Policy Advisor-
Climate Change & Development CC DARE
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
P.O. Box 47074 - 00100, Nairobi Kenya
Tel: (+254-20)762-5727
Fax: (+254-20)762-4249
