Biodiversity and ecosystem services provide tangible benefits for society, such as food provisioning, water purification, genetic resources or climate regulation. These services provide critical life support functions and contribute to human health, well being and economic growth. Yet...

Sustainable development involves linking the economic, social and environmental objectives of societies in a balanced way. It stresses the importance of taking a broader view of what human welfare entails, of using a long-term perspective about the consequences of today's activities, and of...

The importance of biodiversity valuation is widely understood in academia and is increasingly used in policy making and other fora. For example, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), through the Conference of the Parties (COP), recognises that "economic valuation of biodiversity and...

This report examines six mechanisms that can be used to scale-up financing for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use and to help meet the 2011-20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The mechanisms are environmental fiscal reform, payments for ecosystem services, biodiversity offsets, green...

Climate change is an increasing concern across the world. In 1997, a number of countries, including most OECD countries, agreed the Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets for future emissions of greenhouse gases that drive climate change. But the Kyoto Protocol left many decisions to be made, and...

Against the background of a projected doubling of world greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century, this book explores feasible ways to abate them at least cost. Through quantitative analysis, it addresses key climate policy issues including: an ideal set of climate policy tools; the size of the...