This TEEB for Water and Wetlands report underlines the fundamental importance of wetlands in the water cycle and in addressing water objectives reflected in the Rio+20 agreement, the Millennium Development Goals and forthcoming post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. The report presents insights on both critical water-related ecosystem services and also on the wider ecosystem services from wetlands, in order to encourage additional policy momentum, business commitment, and investment in the conservation, restoration, and wise use of wetlands.
TEEB Water and Wetlands aims to show how recognizing, demonstrating, and capturing the values of ecosystem services related to water and wetlands can lead to better informed, more efficient, and fairer decision making. Appreciating the values of wetlands to both society and the economy can help inform and facilitate political commitment to policy solutions.
The Durban conference decided to establish a new market based mechanism that is to cover a broad segment of a country’s economy. The question is, however, which developing countries would actually be able to implement such a mechanism. The introduction of the EU emission trading system highlighted the many challenges that even advanced developed countries face when establishing a carbon market. This paper therefore, aims to explore the essential prerequisites for the implementation of new market mechanisms (NMM). In addition to a theoretical discussion it considers the cases of China and Mexico.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.
This Policy Brief attempts to change the terms of the debate surrounding climate change policy. The authors argue that policymakers should do more to encourage innovation and investment in green research and development rather than focusing solely on the setting of a carbon price. Using a model developed by Aghion in a previous paper, they argue that a carbon price would have to be about 15 times higher in the first five years and 12 times higher in the next five years if innovation is not properly subsidized by governments. The authors also provide several policy recommendations for incentivising this type of green growth in the private sector.
This report by CARE highlights the need for Rio+20 to deliver on sustainable development solutions with equity and resilience as central pillars. It includes the following recommendations for the United Nations conference: ensure that discussions fully and explicitly recognise that urgent action on climate change must be part of a global action plan for sustainable development; prioritise adaptation and resilience to climate change in green economy as essential for the poorest and most vulnerable groups; pursue developed country mitigation strategies by shifting to low carbon development pathways globally; create a set of universal sustainable development goals (SDGs) that address all three (economic, environmental, social) dimensions of sustainable development alongside the drivers of poverty and inequality; recognise that solutions to these crises must be based on principles of good governance and equity.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.
This report attempts to shed light on whether nations can prosper without actually achieving sustainable growth. It also questions whether the benefits of continued economic growth still outweigh the costs, and scrutinises the assumption that growth is essential for prosperity. The paper argues that prosperity can only be conceived as a condition that includes obligations and responsibilities to others and that rising prosperity is not the same thing as economic growth. It further notes that the conventional response to the growth dilemma is to appeal to the concept of ‘decoupling’. This is where production processes are reconfigured, goods and services are redesigned, and economic outputs become progressively less dependent on materials. In this way, it is hoped that the economy can continue to grow without breaching ecological limits.