8.9. Berghöfer

Keynote Presentations from the 4th ALTER-Net Summer School, Peyresq 5 - 17 September 2009

Speaker: Augustin Berghöfer

augustin.berghoefer -at- ufz.de

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ & TEEB Scientific Coordination Team, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Personal homepage

Title of the talk: Short introduction to TEEB - The econonmics of ecosystems and biodiversity (pdf: 500KB) and
TEEB - challenges for valuing ecosystem services in local conservation politics (pdf: 400KB)

Summary of the discussion by Veronica Agostinelli (pdf)

Abstract

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity’ (TEEB) seeks to help garner support for considering conservation aspects in a broader range of policies. For this, TEEB emphasizes the economic importance of ecosystems and biodiversity, drawing on cost of loss estimates and on ecosystem service valuations. Apart from conceptual work on values and valuation methods, this requires examining the caveats of applying valuations in often contested real-life settings.

I draw on insights from recent case studies, to explore the potential and limits of valuing nature for biodiversity-relevant policy making. In local contexts, institutional pre-requisites and process-related conditions need to be known for effectively and legitimately applying the valuation approach and interpreting its results.

This becomes all the more important in settings where valuations serve not merely to push the conservation agenda, but to inform concrete policies and public management decisions - with tangible consequences.

Information and links for this presentation:

• http://www.teebweb.org