The purpose of this guidance manual is to show how the value of ecosystem services can be estimated and incorporated into decision making. Specifically, it is designed to help a broad audience of conservation managers, government officials, private sector managers, NGOs, and statisticians to understand the available information on the values of ecosystem services and how this information can be transferred to inform the decisions that they make. It explains why you would undertake a study, who should be involved, how to implement the study and how to use the results. The development of this guidance manual was funded by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Human well-being relies critically on ecosystem services provided by nature. Examples include water and air quality regulation, nutrient cycling and decomposition, plant pollination and flood control, all of which are dependent on biodiversity. They are predominantly public goods with limited or no markets and do not command any price in the conventional economic system, so their loss is often not detected and continues unaddressed and unabated. This in turn not only impacts human well-being, but also seriously undermines the sustainability of the economic system. It is against this background that TEEB: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project was set up in 2007 and led by the United Nations Environment Programme to provide a comprehensive global assessment of economic aspects of these issues. This book, written by a team of international experts, represents the scientific state of the art, providing a comprehensive assessment of the fundamental ecological and economic principles of measuring and valuing ecosystem services and biodiversity, and showing how these can be mainstreamed into public policies. This volume and subsequent TEEB outputs will provide the authoritative knowledge and guidance to drive forward the biodiversity conservation agenda for the next decade.

Nutrient recycling, habitat for plants and animals, flood control, and water supply are among the many beneficial services provided by aquatic ecosystems. In making decisions about human activities, such as draining a wetland for a housing development, it is essential to consider both the value of the development and the value of the ecosystem services that could be lost. Despite a growing recognition of the importance of ecosystem services, their value is often overlooked in environmental decision-making. This report identifies methods for assigning economic value to ecosystem servicesâ€"even intangible onesâ€"and calls for greater collaboration between ecologists and economists in such efforts.

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon platform drilling the Macondo well in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (DWH) exploded, killing 11 workers and injuring another 17. The DWH oil spill resulted in nearly 5 million barrels (approximately 200 million gallons) of crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The full impacts of the spill on the GoM and the people who live and work there are unknown but expected to be considerable, and will be expressed over years to decades. In the short term, up to 80,000 square miles of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were closed to fishing, resulting in loss of food, jobs and recreation. The DWH oil spill immediately triggered a process under the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) to determine the extent and severity of the "injury" (defined as an observable or measurable adverse change in a natural resource or impairment of a natural resource service) to the public trust, known as the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA). The assessment, undertaken by the trustees (designated technical experts who act on behalf of the public and who are tasked with assessing the nature and extent of site-related contamination and impacts), requires: (1) quantifying the extent of damage; (2) developing, implementing, and monitoring restoration plans; and (3) seeking compensation for the costs of assessment and restoration from those deemed responsible for the injury. This interim report provides options for expanding the current effort to include the analysis of ecosystem services to help address the unprecedented scale of this spill in U.S. waters and the challenges it presents to those charged with undertaking the damage assessment.

This thought provoking book draws together prominent international authorities to discuss the key methodological issues and challenges in valuing ecosystem services. Covering a cross-section of ecosystems and services in different sites, countries and

"The new book Mapping Ecosystem Services provides a comprehensive collection of theories, methods and practical applications of ecosystem services (ES) mapping, for the first time bringing together valuable knowledge and techniques from leading international experts in the field." (www.eurekalert.org).

This book provides a comprehensive review of environmental benefit transfer methods, issues and challenges, covering topics relevant to researchers and practitioners. Early chapters provide accessible introductory materials suitable for non-economists. These chapters also detail how benefit transfer is used within the policy process. Later chapters cover more advanced topics suited to valuation researchers, graduate students and those with similar knowledge of economic and statistical theory and methods. This book provides the most complete coverage of environmental benefit transfer methods available in a single location. The book targets a wide audience, including undergraduate and graduate students, practitioners in economics and other disciplines looking for a one-stop handbook covering benefit transfer topics and those who wish to apply or evaluate benefit transfer methods. It is designed for those both with and without training in economics

Written by a renowned sustainability expert, Greener Products: The Making and Marketing of Sustainable Brands, Second Edition makes the case for why the people and the planet need products to be made in a different, more sustainable way. The growth of the global middle class, with an additional 3 billion people expected to enter the consumer market by 2030, is putting an unprecedented demand on resources and straining the global supply of raw materials, fossil fuels, food and water. This book provides insights on how to raise the bar on product development and investigates the best practices for making and marketing sustainable brands. Over 40 case studies are analyzed in this book and summarized for the reader to easily see what it is that makes leading companies successful. Analysis on marketing campaigns and greener product development range from leading companies like Apple, Nike, Samsung Electronics, BASF, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, and Method. New updated content in this second edition includes: New developments like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with concepts of biomimicry, circular economy, emerging issues management, and eco-innovation. Novel tools and examples for bringing sustainable products to market. New chapter dedicated to natural capital. Analysis of current green marketing methods and market trends. Best practices for making and marketing sustainable brands. For more information, visit the author's book website at www.greenerproducts.biz.

Forests are an important component of natural capital and deliver a broad range of ecosystem services that underpin human well-being. The extent and condition of forests in many parts of the world, however, have declined dramatically during the preceding decades due to unsustainable harvesting of timber, forest fires, urbanization, and conversion to agriculture. At the same time the acknowledged importance of forest ecosystem services (FES) continues to grow, particularly the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation. This paper is a background document developed for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) report on The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO) 2022. It reflects the results of a collaboration between FAO and the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) to update the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD). The compilation of systematically reviewed and standardized economic values of FES consolidated in the ESVD includes value estimates for all FES in nine forest ecosystem types and mangroves as per The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) and the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) classifications. This paper offers an improved understanding of the role of forests in sustainable development, and highlights the potential of forests to provide a pathway towards greater resilience and a green recovery.