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The implications of :- The Millenium Ecosystem Assessment The State of the Environemnt Report in Asia and the Pacific

The need for Green taxes UNESCAP

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The implications of :- The Millenium Ecosystem Assessment The State of the Environemnt Report in Asia and the Pacific

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    1. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 The implications of :- The Millenium Ecosystem Assessment & The State of the Environemnt Report in Asia and the Pacific in 2005 for Economic Development in the region - and the need for Environmental Fiscal Reform Martin Hollands The Cambridge Centre for Conservation Policy

    2. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 The relationship between conservation and the economy is changing. Traditionally Conservation happened in Protected Areas Business outside There is a growing realization that Conservation cant deliver if just in Protected Areas we need a sustainable relationship between people and the environment outside Pas as well as people and businesses are dependent on biodiversity There is a shared need for sustainable development Sustainable profits for business Sustained natural systems and biodiversity Sustained Livelihoods

    3. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 This has led to an evolution in the relationship between conservation and the business sector No understood relationship Business as the damagers Government & philanthropic support Responsible operations risks & opportunities recognized by companies and investors - brand value, new markets Internalisation of environmental factors into business and economic systems Environmental Policy Changes Fiscal environmental reform

    4. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 So what has brought about the change ? Conservationists have for a long time said the environment is important, its being damaged - and we need to look after it better But the justifications have only been effective with a small group of people The issues are not seen as comparable with the main policy drivers especially economic development Conservationists have argued that people need the environment but their views are seen as self serving The UN asked the scientific community to test the claims that were made so that policy makers knew how to respond for genuine human well-being They focused on the importance of Environmental Services in delivering the MDGs

    5. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment The most comprehensive analysis to date of the many and complex ways in which people depend on and affect the natural environment Prepared by 1360 experts from 95 countries, review comments from 850 experts and governments The central focus is human well-being and ecosystem services Looked at how changes in ecosystem services have affected human wellbeing, how changes may affect people in future decades, and response options that might be adopted. Called for by UN Secretary General in 2000, authorized by governments through 4 conventions Partnership of UN agencies, conventions, business, & NGOs It will influence investments, the regulations and public opinion The WBCSD are showing strong interest in the need to address the recommendations of the MEA.

    6. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006

    7. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006

    8. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 MEA Conclusions Human livelihoods and well-being are dependent on a range of ecosystem services Ecosystems are being damaged to the extent that their ability to provide these services is being compromised 60% are being degraded / used unsustainably The degradation of ecosystem services often causes significant harm to human well-being and represents a loss of a natural asset or wealth of a country Only 4 services have been enhanced in the past 50 years, three of these involve food production: crops, livestock, and aquaculture. The fourth is carbon sequestration. Ecosystem services that are freely available today are under threat because the very fact that they are freely available has often meant that no funds have been released to maintain them, so they will disappear or become more costly in the future. Loss of ecosystem services will also affect the attitudes of customers, shareholders, investors, policy makers and regulators.

    9. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006

    10. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 What are the changes that will have an economic impact ?

    11. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 State of the Environment in Asia and the Pacific Although regional consumption pressures are smaller, per person, than the global average, the biologically productive area required to support current consumption levels already exceeds the available area, in at least 18 countries of the region. Ecological deficits in many countries across the region show quantitatively that many are over-exploiting their own natural resource base, and/or through trade, are using the natural resource base of other countries to support their consumption patterns and economic growth. Because the natural resource endowment remains relatively constant or declines under environmental pressure, the size of the human population that can be sustainably supported based on the current consumption patterns and prevailing technologies, is decreasing. UNESCAP 2006

    12. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 What are the underlying causes of the problems ? Loss of wealth due to ecosystem degradation is not reflected in economic accounts The environment is treated as an externality in economic systems Environmental services are seen as Public Goods and are not paid for This means they do not generate the funds for their management We do not make planning decisions at a Systems level As they do not generate income to resource owners almost any alternative is seen as better when any are seen Developments are allowed that include significant residual impacts

    13. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 Required Responses Institutions Integration of ecosystem management goals within other sectors and within broader development planning frameworks Increased transparency and accountability of government and private-sector performance Economics Elimination of subsidies that promote excessive use of ecosystem services (and, where possible, transfer these subsidies to payments for non-marketed ecosystem services) Greater use of economic instruments and market-based approaches in the management of ecosystem services (where enabling conditions exist)

    14. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 So lets think of this as an economic not an environmental issue

    15. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006

    16. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006

    17. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006

    18. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006

    19. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 The Business sector is already realizing the risks and opportunities this presents Business simply cannot function if ecosystems and the services they deliver like water, biodiversity, food, fibre and climate regulation are degraded or out of balance. Bjrn Stigson, President, WBCSD The awareness that your business is fundamentally dependent on the ecosystems around it for its livelihood is crucial for starting to address these issues. Without that, you are really only scratching on the surface. Edmund Blamey, Interface Europe Commitments to Net positive RioTinto Offsets - BBOP Governments seem a little slower..

    20. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 How can ( green ) taxes help ? Current taxes frequently include perverse incentives Taxes can be restructured to reduce practices we want to discourage Taxes systems can encourage sound practices Key targets Transport / Energy / Waste Taxes can encourage R&D in alternatives Tax deductions for environmental investment

    21. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 Governments as surrogate purchasers of environmental services If governments dont want to force users to fully internalize the environmental costs and benefits they can act as intermediate or surrogate purchaser through increasing taxes Businesses pay higher taxes on goods that depend on the environment BUT this only covers half the need governments would also have to increase the budgets to ensure that environmental systems can be managed sustainably

    22. The need for Green taxes UNESCAP & KIPF Bangkok Dec 2006 Thank you for listening. Martin Hollands The Cambridge Centre for Conservation Policy martin.hollands@conservationpolicy.org

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