Commodification and Financialisation of nature

Advocacy NGOs networks for sustainable use of energy and natural resources in

the Western Balkans and Turkey – ETNAR - -IPA CSF 2012/306-573

, Palic September

24th 26to th 2013

H / ow to value protect?ecosystems D ominant

narrative• We fail to value the systems that keep us

alive. We treat both natural resources and the biosphere’s capacity to absorb our waste as if they were worth nothing

• the answer is to place a financial value on what used to be called nature, but has now been rebranded natural capital.

• The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity - TEEB

•

EU approachKnowledge concerning the flow of benefits from ecosystems has grown considerably in recent years, encouraged by the work on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity (TEEB) and the earlier Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA).

Value of polination• The annual economic value of insect-

pollinated crops in the EU-25 is about € 14,2 billion.

• the United Kingdom’s National Ecosystem Assessment estimated the economic value of biotic pollination as a contribution to crop market value in 2007 at €629 million

• The production of 87 out of 115 leading global crops (representing up to 35 % of the global food supply) were increased by animal pollination.

Payments for environmental services - PES

• Evaluating the benefits of conservation can attract funds from stake- holders benefiting from the ecosystem services

• The benefits of habitat conservation to water retention and quality in an area can form a basis for establishing a payment scheme where the users of water contribute to maintaining, managing and/or restoring the site and its natural abilities to regulate the water flow.

• Natura 2000 areas play a significant role in both storing and cap- turing carbon, to help mitigate climate change, and these areas could be eligible to receive funding from carbon offset- ting schemes.

Revenues from certified products and/or sustainable tourism

• With the markets for sustainably produced and/ or biodiversity-friendly products increasing, there are also increasing opportunities to develop markets for certified products from or associated with Natura 2000 areas. For example, several products such as honey, meat and beer have already been associated with the management of Natura 2000 site.

• 2000 NATURA provides significant opportunities for recreation and tourism, including related businesses. These revenue streams can provide a funding source that helps to cover some opportunity costs of Natura 2000 and also actively contribute towards the management of the sites.

P !ricing is wrong answer• By pricing and commodifying the natural world and

then establishing a market in “ecosystem services” – accounting has the unintended consequence of turning the biosphere into a subsidiary of the economy. Forests, fish stocks, biodiversity, hydrological cycles become owned, in effect, by the very interests – corporations, landlords, banks – whose excessive power is most threatening to the them

• the costing of nature is step towards the privatisation • once we have included nature into cost-benefit

analysis, we can’t complain if we don’t like the results

Stop the financialisation of the nature

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