Image Credit: Ales Krivec via Unsplash.
On July 11th, 2022, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a summary of their new Assessment Report on the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature.
This summary for policy-makers highlights the negative impacts of the current global focus on short-term economic growth. Such a focus often leads decision-makers to exclude the holistic values of nature in policy decisions. Economic and political decisions have, for the most part, focused on the instrumental values of nature instead of the more intrinsic and relational values, an approach that does not accurately reflect how nature impacts humans’ quality of life.
“Only 2% of the more than 1,000 studies reviewed consult stakeholders on valuation findings and only 1% of the studies involved stakeholders in every step of the process of valuing nature. What is in short supply is the use of valuation methods to tackle power asymmetries among stakeholders, and to transparently embed the diverse values of nature into policymaking.”
-Professor Unai Pascual
In the report, the authors identify approaches that can help to create the conditions for the transformative changes we need for more sustainable and just futures:
- Recognizing the myriad of nature’s values (both intrinsic, extrinsic, and relational)
- Ingraining these values into each phase of decision-making
- Reforming policies and regulations to internalize nature’s values Shifting societal standards and goals to better align with global sustainability and justice objectives
This IPBES values assessment provides recommendations for harmonizing a good quality of life for all while advancing the interwoven economic, societal, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The report touches on the importance of understanding different worldviews and values and presents guidelines for developing and implementing valuation methods.
OneNature is looking forward to the release of the full IPBES values assessment later this year. We agree with the IPBES authors that the holistic values of nature are too often overlooked and believe that including nature’s intrinsic and relational values in the decision-making process will allow for humans’ quality of life to flourish along with nature.