OECD World Forum "Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies"

The state of ecosystems and

progress of society

Odeh Al-Jayyousi, Regional Director, IUCN West Asia,

Central Asia and North Africa Regional Office

Outline

• The state of global ecosystems• Learning from ecology• Re-defining progress• Progress of society and culture• Conclusions

The state of global eco-systems

• Between 1700 and 1980, 1.2 billion hectare of agricultural land was gained at the expense of a roughly equal amount of forest.

• Such conversion involves loss of species and biological diversity which in turn limits the provision of eco-system services.

Key challenges

• The challenge is that economic approaches are faced with the question of what are the benefits of conservation and what are the economic value of ecosystem services and species.

• There is a critical need to explain why biodiversity needs to be conserved and what does this mean to the progress of society.

Economics matters...

• The goal defined by economists for resource allocation is based on utility maximization and the pursuit of happiness.

• Issues related to environmental conservation are addressed by “welfare economics” which deals with human wellbeing and what underpins that wellbeing.

Conceptual challenge

• One dimension to the problem of un-sustainability is the population growth and the un-sustainable resource use in the North.

• Besides, the emerging economies in China and India impose more pressures on natural resources worldwide in terms of timber and fuel.

• Hence, there is a need to re-frame and re-define the notion of sustainable development to adequately address progress of societies.

What did we learn from the Millennium Ecosystem

Assessment ?

Lesson 1

The key message is that humans over the last 50 years are putting such a strain on the planet’s ecosystems that their capacity to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted.

Lesson 2

About 60 percent of the ecosystem services that support life on Earth are being degraded or used unsustainably.

Lesson 3

The international community needs to make environmental conservation a top priority if it wants to meet the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Lesson 4

Any progress achieved in addressing the goals of poverty and hunger eradication, improved health, and environmental protection is unlikely to be sustained if most of the ecosystem services continue to be degraded.

Lesson 5

What is critical is that humans have sound understanding for the environment and how it works, so that they can make the necessary decisions to protect our natural capital.

Ecology and culture

The metaphor of society is like an eco-system not a machine.

Lessons can be learned from ecology to inform and transform business and society

ISSUE: Human demand for ecosystem services is quickly growing around the world…

Water

One-third of the world’s population is now subject to water scarcity.

Population facing water scarcity will double over the next 30 years

Food

Food production must increase to meet the needs of an additional 3 billion people over the next 30 years

Timber

Wood fuel is the only source of fuel for one third of the world’s population.

Wood demand will double in next 50 years.

ISSUE: The capacity of many ecosystems to provide certain services has been declining…

Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

Bad

Not Assessed

Agro-ec

osyste

m

Coastal

System

s

Forest S

ystem

s

Freshwate

r

Grassla

nds

Food-Fiber Production

Water Quality

Water Quantity

Biodiversity

Carbon StorageIncreasing

Decreasing

Mixed

Condition of Ecosystem

ChangingCapacity

Key

*Source: Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems. 2000. WRI, IFPRI

Ecosystem Type

Services

ISSUE:

Despite knowledge of the increasing demand and diminishing or endangered supply, science is not being effectively brought to bear on these challenges…

Science and policy

• Existing mechanisms for linking science and policy are highly sectoral whereas the major problems today are increasingly multisectoral.

Data to Knowledge

• New data sources, methodologies and models are underutilized in many countries.

Re-defining sustainable development

– Markets do not tell us the ecological truth

– What constitutes good life

– The consequences of changes in global economies (China and India)

– The role of biomimcry in greening business and society.

Ecosystem Services provide benefits to people

RegulatingBenefits obtained from regulation of

ecosystem processes

• climate regulation• disease regulation

• flood regulation

• detoxification

ProvisioningGoods produced or

provided by ecosystems

• food • fresh water• fuel wood

• fiber• biochemicals

• genetic resources

CulturalNon-material benefits

obtained from ecosystems

• spiritual • recreational

• aesthetic• inspirational• educational • communal• symbolic

SupportingServices necessary for production of other ecosystem services

• Soil formation• Nutrient cycling

• Primary production

Global assessment integrates the effects of multiple drivers on all ecosystems

Driver

Response

HumanImpact

Ecosystems

Health Economics Social

ClimateChange

Land CoverChange

BiodiversityLoss

NutrientLoading Etc.

Millennium AssessmentIPCC

Climate Change

Energy Sector Biodiversity Food

Supply Water

Health Economics Social

Numbers talk...

• Malaria accounts for more than 10 percent of the disease burden in Africa. Had it been eliminated 35 years ago, the continent’s gross domestic product would have been $100 billion larger today.

Numbers talk...

An intact wetland can be worth $ 6,000 per hectare whereas one cleared for intensive agriculture is worth only around $ 2,000 per hectare.

A mangrove forests worth at least $ 1,000 per hectare versus about $200 per hectare when cleared for shrimp aquaculture.

Relationships and Interactions of People and Nature

connected

disaggregatedGlo

bal i

nstit

utio

ns

responsive proactive

Approach to cross-scale feedbacks

Development Fix

Fortress

Technological fix

VariedExperiments

Re-defining Progress

There is a need to transform GDP to reflect ecological and social attributes.

Re-defining Progress

Genuine progress indicator (GPI) and happy planet index (HPI) were developed as a refined version of GDP to address other dimensions like the state of environment and other social and health aspects.

Conclusions

To co-create a sustainable future, we need to devise adequate means to value our natural capital and human resources.

It is possible to do something about the ecological problem. This requires substantial changes in policy and practice and the conceptualization of a new paradigm for sustainable development.

Conclusions

Investing in environmental assets and equitable strategies are vital to achieve national goals for relief from poverty, hunger and disease.

Reaching environmental goals requires progress in eradicating poverty.

We need measures to ensure that markets tell us the ecological and social truth.

Thank You