1. 7th Biennial GEF International Waters Conference Bridgetown, Barbados Key outcomes from the pre-workshop on Economic valuation Eduard Interwies, InterSus

2. Aim of the presentation • Present briefly the key outcomes of the pre-workshop • “Set the scene” for the upcoming table dialogues on economic valuation

3. The pre-workshop: • Sat & Sun 26 & 27.10 • Centered on economic valuation as a tool to link science-based management & policy • Aims: • Raising capacity among GEF project managers and partner organizations representatives on the topic • Better use & integration of valuation approaches and methods during GEF IW project implementation (esp. TDA-SAP process) • More than 100 registered participants • Presentations, 3 breakout groups, facilitated discussions etc. – conveying economic valuation methodologies and practical examples – what worked, what not

4. The background/basis: • Management of aquatic resources based on the ecosystem understanding! • Multiple uses…limited resources… • ...ecosystem services (ES) approach fosters understanding and integration • Variety of objectives and underlying conditions per ecosystem

5. Ecosystem Services: (MEA, TEEB)

7. An example: • Various ecosystem services related to wetlands-estuaries, e.g.: • Provisioning: • Food, water (direct values) • Regulating: • Climate regulation, moderation of extreme events (indirect values) • Habitat: • Maintenance of life cycle of migratory species (indirect value) • Cultural: • Aestetic and religious role (non-use values)

8. Economic valuation of ES • Decision-making needs to integrate a variety of socio-economic factors & issues: • Economic growth needs/related investments; • Livelihood & distributional issues; • Costs and benefits of specific policy decisions… • but also how a policy decision influences the ES functioning & the related values! • Valuation of ES only one part of socio-economic consideration for policy making • has its specific role to play within the different steps of the policy cycle(analysis & advice – decision making – implementation – Review/evaluation & monitoring)

9. Economic valuation of ES - methods • Various approaches & methods for economic valuation exist • Many options for managers, but: “you need first to be clear on what question you want to answer” • Very case specific •  No silver bullet: method selection should be “purpose driven, objective specific” (what question, policy, sector, stakeholders, scale, timeline, data available?)

10. Economic valuation of ES • Variety of examples available, some presented & discussed (both LMEs and River Basins) • Key insights on successful link to policy-making: • Valuation only one of the tools supporting better decision making • Do it at the scale of the policy question • Strong local partnership & stakeholder engagement • Local demand for valuation • Opportunities of revenue raising • Effective communication & access to decision makers – integration, not “stand alone” • Clear presentation of methods, assumptions & limitations

11. Regarding market-based instruments… ..and the links to economic valuation:

12. Regarding market-based instruments… • ..and the links to economic valuation: • Relevant for Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)-schemes, but also other market-based instruments e.g. taxes, quantity-based, liability-based, voluntary • FIRST SLIDE BY MARK???

13. Regarding PES – and use of valuation • Promising, good examples of work done so far • Specific “do´s and dont´s” out of this experience • Fundamental concerns: water as a human right vs. water as a commodity • Role of GEF: to be further discussed • Continue exploration: • how to upscale to national/transboundary level? ”Out-of-box”-thinking – innovative ideas • Further case study applications (part of TDA-SAF-process) to promote and use PES-schemes

14. Linking valuation to policy-making • GEF-Action points: • Broad(er): Incorporate all relevant aspects of social, economic data/analysis as an integral part of the TDA – SAP framework and related documents • Part of effective governance – of the entire policy cycle • Foster indicator use: further develop socio-economic indicators (linked to data access &availability) & baseline/trends in GEF-SAP results framework • Use of e.g. Cost-Benefit-analysis/Multi-criteria analysis (quantitative & qualitative information) in the assessment of options throughout the process (not only towards the end!) • Complements – does not replace – other data and analysis currently used in GEF-projects

15. Linking valuation to policy-making • GEF-Action points: • Incorporate valuation as an integral part of the TDA – SAP framework and related documents • Ecosystem diagnostic analysis (including valuation) to identify national & regional key issues: for each member country (communication issues, collecting information/data) undertake individual evaluation &then bring together into the TDA-SAP-process • Causal chain analysis (including valuation) maybe useful earlier in designing the process (in assessment of options) – identifying the key use & methods of ES valuation • Include values of large ecosystem assets - add information on economic impacts of options - use CBA (qualitative-quantitative) of options – for the SAP

16. Linking valuation to policy-making • GEF-Action points: • Develop guidance for the use of socio-economic assessments, esp. ES valuation: • Guidelines – practical manual • Clear framework for project managers on what is most useful for their project • Show the needs for socio-economic assessments (CBA etc.) and the specific use of ES valuation • Use of specific methods (flexible: not all aspects suited to all projects), considering data availability • Success stories – lessons learned (evidence of approach advocacy) • Improve data availability / accessability for ES valuation (“do it quicker and easier”)

17. Linking valuation to policy-making • GEF-Action points: • Support capacity building: • Improve capacity (within GEF-projects, but also of users/authorities) • Creating a critical mass of expertise – professionalization – community of practice • Support a stronger incorporation of decision makers & stakeholders in the ES valuation-process

18. Linking valuation to policy-making • GEF-Action points: • Foster practical application of ES-valuation at the project level: • Conduct high-level ecosystem valuation studies (“fast and cheap”) to kick-start acceptance & understanding – improve “buy-in” by users/authorities through involvement & awareness raising • Conduct Pilot projects - Demonstration projects: Hot-spot and small demonstration projects in national diagnostic analysis/TDA/SAP formulation– with strong decision maker & stakeholder involvement

19. Special thanks to: • The IWLearn-team • The co-facilitators: • * Mark Smith & Stefano Barchiesi (IUCN) • * Christian Susan (UNIDO) • * Warwick Sauer (Rhodes University) • * Stephen Lutz (UNEP GRID-Arendal- Blue Forest project) • * Adrian Cashman & David Gil (University of the West Indies) • * Peter Edwards (NOAA) • The presenters • …and of course the very involved participants!