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Sep 05 Investing in the Environment Gives “Big Bang for Your Buck” IUCN website, 15 Sep 05 Investing in the Environment Yield High Returns Full report at www.povertyenvironment.net/pep PlanetArk website, 15 Sep 05 Spending on Environment Yields Big Returns - Report Story by Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO - Spending to protect the environment, from coral reefs to forests, can bring big returns to aid a worldwide assault on poverty, a UN-backed report said on Wednesday. The study, coinciding with a summit of world leaders in New York, even suggested that forests may be more valuable when left standing rather than being cleared for crops because trees can absorb the heat-trapping gases widely blamed for global warming. "The environment...is not a luxury good, only affordable when all other problems have been solved," said Klaus Toepfer, head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) which was among 30 international groups behind the report. The study estimated that annual investments of $60-$90 billion in the environment over 10-15 years were needed to reach a world goal of halving the proportion of humanity living on less than a dollar a day, currently more than a billion people. A further $80 billion a year was needed to limit global warming, widely linked to gases from burning fossil fuels in factories, cars and power plants, over the next 50 years. Once invested, it said that every dollar spent on clean water and sanitation in the Third World, for instance, could bring $14 in benefits ranging from lower health care costs to higher work productivity and school attendance. "Conservation of habitats and ecosystems are also cost effective when compared with the short-term profits from environmentally damaging activities" including dynamite fishing, mining or deforestation, it said. Every dollar invested in fighting land degradation and desertification, like building terraces to stop hillside erosion, could generate at least $3 in benefits, the Poverty Environment Partnership report estimated. CORALS BEAT DYNAMITE And every dollar invested in protecting coral reefs could generate $5, ranging from scuba-diving tourism to renewable fish stocks. Forests could play a role in slowing climate change because trees absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. "The carbon storage or 'sequestration' potential of forests ranges between $360 and $2,200 per hectare which makes them worth far more than if they are converted to grazing or cropland," UNEP said. And the study said that it becomes far more cost effective to conserve forests than to clear them once carbon prices exceed $30 a tonne. In a European Union market, launched this year as part of a UN plan to curb global warming, carbon dioxide emission allowances trade at about 22 euros ($27.03) per tonne. The report also pointed to other ways to place a value on the environment. Brazilian farmers in parts of the Amazon turned to forest nuts and berries when their crops failed, for instance, making the forests a "nature-based insurance policy." IUCN website, 15 Sep 05 Investing in the Environment Yield High Returns New report released at 2005 UN World Summit shows how environmental management contributes to poverty reduction New York, USA, 14 September 2005 (IUCN) – At the 2005 World Summit a new economic study is released on the role of environmental management in poverty reduction, which concludes: “that investing in the environment makes economic sense, especially for the poor”. The publication, entitled “Investing in Environmental Wealth for Poverty Reduction” was prepared by David Pearce of University College London on behalf of the Poverty Environment Partnership, supported by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The new report offers compelling evidence that development and poverty are directly linked to conservation: • 21 out of 27 case studies in developing countries show that investing in conservation delivers more economic benefits than agricultural or logging development. o In Ecuador, the economic output of ranching was compared to conservation, which proved to be 25 times more profitable. o In Nigeria, the net benefit of floodplain conservation is 17 times higher than irrigation schemes. o In Haiti, income will be doubled if investments are made in conservation rather than logging. o In Botswana, conservation that allows safaris with hunting provides a rate of return of up to 38%, compared to 2% for cattle ranching. • The report identifies several environmental measures that have to be taken to contribute to long-term poverty reduction and livelihood security and estimates the minimum cost at between US$ 60-90 per year. • The report offers convincing evidence of the dependence of the poorest rural communities on the goods and services that ecosystems provide. For instance, it shows that in 8 countries the rural poor depend on fuel wood for at least 84% of their energy needs; and that an increase of 1°C in average global temperature from climate change would put an additional population of at least 1.4 billion people at risk from malaria and water shortages. These findings are particularly timely as world leaders gather this week at the UN 2005 World Summit in New York to set priorities for fighting poverty and agree on the broader international development agenda over the next ten years. This publication shows that sustainable development cannot be achieved without ensuring environmental sustainability - and that investing in natural resources management is one of the most cost-effective ways to stimulate growth that reduces poverty. The report will be formally launched at the PEP 2005 World Summit Policy Dialogue: “Investing in the Environment to Fight Poverty. The Economic Case and Priorities for Action”, Wednesday 14 September, 2005, 2:30–5:30pm at the Institute of International Education. Several ministers, Achim Steiner, IUCN Director General and other CEOs of large conservation NGOs, will be amongst the panelists. UNEP website, 14 Sep 05 Investing in the Environment Gives “Big Bang for Your Buck” Poverty and Environment Partnership Says Natural Capital Central to Development Goals New York/Nairobi, 14 September 2005 - Targeted investments in the environment will generate substantial economic returns especially among the more than one billion people who live on less than a dollar a day a new report shows. Every dollar invested in fighting land degradation and desertification may conservatively generate over three dollars in economic benefits helping to fight poverty among the millions living on fragile lands. Money could be spent on such traditional and soil conserving features like terracing. Meanwhile every dollar spent on delivering clean water and sanitation is likely to give impressive rates of return of up to $14. It indicates that in some cases the income of the very poor could be boosted fourteen fold. Here the economic benefits arise from areas including reduced health care costs, increased productivity because of workers spending less time searching for water and improved school attendance. Conservation of habitats and ecosystems are also cost effective when compared with the short term profits from environmentally damaging activities such as dynamite fishing, mining and sedimentation as a result of deforestation in the interior. A study of coral reefs in the Caribbean indicates that sustainable harvesting of coral fish for food and industries such as the pet and aquaria trade may be worth $300 million a year, coral-based tourism just over $2 billion annually and shoreline protection from reefs up to $2.2 billion a year. However, these economic benefits are threatened by damage and degradation amounting to between $350 million and $870 million a year. Overall for every dollar invested in coral reef conservation economic returns will total up to $5. Meanwhile the carbon storage or “sequestration” potential of forests ranges between $360 and $2,200 per hectare which makes them worth far more than if they are converted to grazing or cropland. Indeed the study claims that once carbon reaches over $30 a ton it becomes far more cost effective to conserve forests than to clear them. Natural capital also serves as back up against calamities such as droughts or crop failures. Studies from Brazil show that farmers in the Amazon’s Tapajos National Park turn to forests products such as nuts and berries when crop yields tumble. In other words, the forest acts as a kind of nature-based insurance policy for those denied access to formal insurance and financial markets. These are among some of the findings from “Investing in Environmental Wealth for Poverty Reduction” prepared on behalf of the Poverty-Environment Partnership (PEP) for the 2005 World Summit taking place this week at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. One of the summit’s aims is to review the status of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) covering poverty eradication and the provision of safe and sufficient supplies of drinking water up to the reversal of the spread of diseases and the empowerment of women. Launched in 2000, these internationally agreed goals are set to be met by 2015. The partnership, which includes the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), organizations such as IUCN-the World Conservation Union and government agencies, today meets to plan how the environment can be mainstreamed in national poverty reduction strategies in order to better achieve the Goals. Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive Director, said:” It is clear from this report, and from a series of other studies published throughout the year, that the environment is something like the red ribbon running through the Millennium Development Goals. It is not a luxury good, only affordable when all other problems have been solved. It is the oxygen that breathes life into all our aspirations for a healthier, fairer and more stable world. I would call on world leaders to recognize this in the outcome of this important summit”. “We also need to pursue more imaginative and clever methods for paying the poor for the regional and global assets they hold. It has been calculated that the carbon absorption value of tropical forests alone is worth tens of billions of dollars a year. But these ecosystem services, which largely remove the pollution of the rich countries from the atmosphere, are provided gratis and the people paid nothing for these assets,” he said. “Increased investment alone is not enough,” notes Kemal Dervis, Administrator of UNDP. “To be effective, investments must be implemented and driven at the grassroots level by communities, local governments and the private sector. The poor must have secure rights and access to natural resources and a greater voice in decisions over the management of the land, water and biological resources that support their livelihoods.” The PEP report, whose lead author was the renowned environmental economist Professor David Pearce who tragically died last week, outlines the challenges of bringing the value of the environment into center stage. The report estimates that, to reach poverty reduction targets, an annual global investment in environmental assets of $60 billion to $90 billion will be needed over the next ten to 15 years. At least $80 billion per annum more is needed to tackle global climate change in order to stabilize greenhouse gases at 550 parts per million over the next 50 years. 550 parts per million is double the concentrations of these gases from pre-industrial days. Among the issues that need to be resolved is the creation of markets, reflecting the value of natural capital. These need to be fostered by governments, the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector in areas such as carbon trading, eco tourism and the use of genetic resources. Payments for nature may also offer a way forward such as those being pioneered by hydropower companies who pay for forest conservation on rivers upstream. Local people must also be part of the equation so that the ‘environmental assets’ are managed in people and poverty-friendly ways. A pre-requisite is a stable, corruption-free government that respects the rule of law and fosters efficient and accountable public services and streamlined regulations. Poor-friendly property rights must also be urgently addressed and case studies examined on what does and does not work. Extending financial credit during times of trouble may also help ensure that, out of desperation, poor people are not forced to over use and run down their ‘natural capital’. Another important issue is that of the more than $1 trillion trade subsidies and trade barriers in rich countries. The report argues that subsidies on traded goods from developed economies perpetuate poverty which in turn can triggers environmental degradation in the developing world. Meanwhile subsidies or poor pricing policies in poorer countries tend to lead to environmental degradation. For example irrigation subsidies often lead to inefficient use of supplies that in turn triggers effects like water logging and salt contamination of soils. links Related articles on Global issues: biodiversity and Wild shores of Singapore |
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