WRI Report: Banking on Nature’s Assets

Citation

(2010), "WRI Report: Banking on Nature’s Assets", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 21 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2010.08321dae.004

WRI Report: Banking on Nature’s Assets

WRI Report: Banking on Nature’s Assets

Article Type: Books and resources From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 21, Issue 4

Humanity depends on nature for physical and spiritual sustenance, livelihoods, and survival. Ecosystems provide numerous benefits or “ecosystem services” that underpin economic development and support human well being. The UN-led Millennium Ecosystem Assessment audited the health of 24 ecosystem services globally and reported that two-thirds had been degraded over the past half century. This degradation is undermining development progress. However, by accounting for and managing ecosystem service trade-offs, multilateral development banks (MDBs) and partner countries can improve development outcomes, help address climate change, and reduce costs to people and economies. Toward this end, a growing number of tools are emerging to help factor ecosystem services into economic development decisions. This report identifies entry points for mainstreaming ecosystem services in MDBs’ core operations and describes a portfolio of tools to help. It also presents a range of policy options that MDBs can help country partners to implement in order to sustain critical ecosystem services. The report can be seen at: www.wri.org/publication/banking-on-natures-assets