{"id":113314,"date":"2024-02-13T11:22:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T11:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alj.com\/?post_type=spotlight-fadyjameel&p=113314"},"modified":"2024-02-13T12:19:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T12:19:32","slug":"investing-in-nature","status":"publish","type":"spotlight-fadyjameel","link":"https:\/\/alj.com\/en\/spotlight-by-fady-jameel\/investing-in-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Investing in nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

How \u2018nature-based solutions\u2019 can grow economic success<\/h2>\n

The last 100 years have seen incredible advances in wealth and health – both in the developed world and emerging economies \u2013 raising thousands of people out of poverty every day.\u00a0 We still have a long way to go, but we’re doing better than at any time in human history on many objective measures of prosperity.<\/p>\n

There’s a catch, though.\u00a0 Politics, conflicts and pandemics aside, the elephant in the room is actually . . .\u00a0 the room itself: that is where we live.\u00a0 Our unprecedented wealth creation has \u2013 and still is \u2013 causing extraordinary resource depletion.\u00a0 The unsustainable consumption of natural resources is destroying the plants, animals, and habitats that support all life on Earth.<\/p>\n

Reducing global carbon emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change on our planet must always be our primary focus.\u00a0 But the value of achieving this ambition is significantly reduced if, by the time we reach net zero, the natural environment that supports our society has already been damaged beyond repair.<\/p>\n

The world is running out of resources \u2013 and patience<\/h2>\n

Measured in cash terms, our collective wealth is staggering.\u00a0 But widen the lens, and we’re running a huge ongoing and increasing debt.\u00a0 The reality is that nature doesn’t just sit alongside our financial systems; it underpins them.\u00a0 More than half of the world’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is moderately or highly dependent on nature.[1]<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0And, of course, the rest wouldn\u2019t exist if we didn\u2019t have anything to eat.<\/p>\n

While never getting distracted from the net zero imperative, to sustain our livelihoods and our lives, we must also invest in long-term solutions that fully consider the impact on nature, not simply on financial wealth or the immediate economic benefits.<\/p>\n

As the European Commission states in a 2023 report (itself quoting the UN):<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201c<\/em>Nature-based solutions are one important tool at the disposal of decision-makers which can help to tackle these problems. \u00a0Nature-based solutions are \u2018actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems, which address social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services and resilience and biodiversity benefits<\/em>.\u2019\u201d [2]<\/strong><\/sup><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to change how we measure wealth<\/h2>\n

Before we talk practical solutions, let\u2019s take a step back.\u00a0 As with many problems, changing perceptions is the first priority.\u00a0 And that begins with changing how we describe the problem and measure its magnitude.<\/p>\n

GDP is a useful indication of short-term economic performance.\u00a0 However, GDP does not account for the depletion of a nation’s \u2013 or indeed the planets\u2019 \u2013 natural assets.\u00a0 This can make GDP incomplete at best, and pernicious at worst, as a holistic measure of progress or impact.\u00a0 Many countries which appear to be growing in economic prosperity and wealth may in fact be concealing severe damage to their ecosystems and jeopardizing their future economic success for generations to come.<\/p>\n

The trade in natural resources, primarily from emerging economies to the developed world, is a particularly pressing example.\u00a0 Even if those nations are remunerated in the short-term, the ultimate costs could far outweigh the advantages if their resources and their natural environment are not \u2013 or cannot \u2013 be replenished.<\/p>\n

By this measure, the growth of international trade and resulting economic expansion of emerging economies are not what they seem.\u00a0 Many nations feel they have a right to exploit their natural resources as, historically, countless other countries have.\u00a0 However, to achieve the same level of prosperity \u2013 or even exceed it \u2013 they cannot afford to tread the same \u2013 uninformed and blind to the wider consequences \u2013 path.\u00a0 To do so might bring short term wealth, but it would certainly be accompanied by much larger longer-term problems.<\/p>\n

We need to learn the lessons of our own past.<\/p>\n

To achieve truly sustainable development and growth, nature must be part, no, at the center, of the economic equation (including the planet\u2019s carbon cycle).<\/p>\n

\"Prof.
Prof. Sir Partha Dasgupta
University of Cambridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, who led the UK Government\u2019s Independent Review on the Economics of Biodiversity[3]<\/a>, recommends a new measure of prosperity that considers the value of nature, or what he calls \u2018natural capital\u2019:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe should instead be using a measure that accounts for the value of all capital stocks \u2013 produced capital (roads, buildings, ports, machines), human capital (skills, knowledge), and natural capital.\u00a0 <\/em>We may call that measure \u2018inclusive wealth.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As \u2018inclusive wealth\u2019 includes three types of capital, it makes it easier to identify the inherent trade-offs in all economic activity.\u00a0 Once all factors are taken into account, we can better judge a nation\u2019s true prosperity.\u00a0 There have been some promising moves in this direction, including China\u2019s Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP)<\/a> and New Zealand\u2019s Wellbeing Budget<\/a>, both of which bring nature back into the equation to create a more holistic accounting of human flourishing.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s Wellbeing Budget<\/a> commits to putting people\u2019s wellbeing and the environment at the heart of its policies.\u00a0 It is designed to use social and environmental indicators, along with economic and fiscal ones, to guide the Government\u2019s investment and funding decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of government spending is to ensure citizens\u2019 health and life satisfaction, and that \u2013 not wealth or economic growth \u2013 is the metric by which a country\u2019s progress should be measured.\u00a0 <\/em>GDP alone does not guarantee improvement to our living standards and does not take into account who benefits and who is left out,\u201d <\/em>said former PM Jacinda Ardern on launching the initiative.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, we don\u2019t want to keep becoming richer on paper while flora and fauna disappear.\u00a0 It\u2019s not enough to simply keep track of resources and single-mindedly pursue our carbon emissions targets in isolation.\u00a0 We have to channel our wealth back into preserving and protecting the natural world, while at the same changing the way we measure, manage and \u2013 above all \u2013 use our precious natural resources.<\/p>\n

What are \u2018nature-based\u2019 solutions?<\/h2>\n

\"InternationalNature-based solutions are defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)<\/a> as:<\/p>\n

\u201cActions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits\u201d[4]<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP<\/a>), these societal challenges range from disaster risk reduction, climate change and biodiversity loss, to food and water security as well as human health.<\/p>\n

Nature-based solutions make economic, as well as ecological sense, owing to the fact they are often cheaper than standard (nonnatural) solutions over the longer term, owing to the potential for responding to damages and the ensuing avoided costs.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

And ecological catastrophe is a costly proposition either way.<\/p>\n

\"Plant<\/p>\n

Tree-planting is one of the most widely-known examples of a nature-based solution, as it has the potential to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and help achieve net-zero emissions targets.\u00a0 Other examples are shown in the table below.\u00a0 They include protecting old-growth forests to reduce floods and landslides and restoring coastal ecosystems as a defense against storms and sea level rise.[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Examples of nature-based solutions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Category of Nature-based Approaches<\/td>\nExamples<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ecosystem restoration approaches<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Ecological restoration<\/li>\n
  • Ecological Engineering<\/li>\n
  • Forest landscape restoration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Issue-specific ecosystem-related approaches<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Ecosystem-based adaptation<\/li>\n
  • Ecosystem-based mitigation<\/li>\n
  • Climate adaptation services<\/li>\n
  • Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Infrastructure-related approaches<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Natural infrastructure<\/li>\n
  • Green infrastructure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ecosystem-based management approaches<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Integrated coastal zone management<\/li>\n
  • Integrated water resources management<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ecosystem protection approaches<\/td>\n\n