UN expert panel for nature to kick off in 2011
Theestablishment of a new UN body to advise governments on how to
tackle biodiversity loss and protect ecosystem services was given
the final go-ahead in December, paving the way for a global debate
on new green taxes, biodiversity credits and the building of
ecosystem businesses.
the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (target=”_blank”>IPBES) was passed by the UN
General Assembly on December 20, 2010.
Modelled on the UN target=”_blank”>Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), the new body will provide a forum for
scientists to analyse, share knowledge and report on the state,
status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystems and their links
with the economy.
Eventually, the IPBES is expected to table effective
“transformational policy options” to reverse biodiversity loss and
deliver “gold standard reports” to governments to steer action.
EU supportive of the initiative
EU environment ministers
target=”_blank”>have noted that authoritative and
peer-reviewed scientific information delivered by IPBES is needed
to “increase public understanding and trigger better-informed
decision-making to safeguard nature and ecosystems”.
Early 2011, UNEP will organize
meetings of governments to decide on institutional arrangements,
such as which country and institution will host
IPBES.
The EU ministers also said they are committed to “mainstreaming
and sectoral integration of biodiversity, especially in
financial-economic systems”.
Particular attention would be paid to policies related to
natural resources and land use management, such as agriculture,
food security, forestry, fisheries, mining and energy, as well as
spatial planning, transport, tourism, trade, and development, they
said.
Delivering on nature protection will require “the development
and application of innovative financial mechanisms” and the
elimination of subsidies that harm biodiversity, the ministers
added.
Discussions on establishing the Intergovernmental Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (
target=”_blank”>IPBES) have been ongoing since
2008.
Towards biodiversity business
According to the UN, biodiversity, forests, freshwater and other
ecosystems are of “multi-trillion dollar importance” to the global
economy and to national economies.
Initiatives to integrate biodiversity into economic systems
could be launched thanks to the knowledge generated by the study on
the target=”_blank”>Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
(TEEB) - part of the
Green Economy Initiative.
Along the lines of the UK’s Stern Review on the
target=”_blank”
title=”economics of climate change”>economics of climate
change, the TEEB initiative has made massive
calculations in an attempt to put a price on nature services such
as soil, forest or freshwater in an effort to convince policymakers
to implement the ‘polluter pays’ principle to protect nature.
The initiative suggests adopting
target=”_blank”>market-based instruments, such as
additional levies, to enforce sustainable use of nature and argues
that biodiversity and ecosystem conservation offer an array of
target=”_blank”>new opportunities for business,
which can either develop green products and services or trade
biodiversity ‘credits’.
Source: www.euractiv.com
