Discussion on next steps

In discussing the chairman’s summary, Robert Hepworth, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), suggested including a definition of ecosystems services and clarifying differences between “regulatory structures”, needed for markets to work efficiently, and “regulating services” as one kind of ecosystem services. Bert Lenten, Executive Secretary of the African-Eurasian Waterbirds Agreement (AEWA), supported by Marceil Yeater, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), recommended referring not only to the poor in developing countries, but also in countries with economies in transition and developed countries. Charles Arden-Clarke, UNEP, recommended including the definition of “wealth” proposed by Partha Dasgupta, University of Cambridge. Anantha Duraiappah, International Institute on Sustainable Development (IISD), proposed to link the risk of marginalizing the poor not only with the pricing, but also the marketing of ecosystem services. 

Above photos L-R: Bert Lenten, Executive Secretary, AEWA; Robert Hepworth, Executive Secretary, CMS; Marceil Yeater, CITES

Participants then discussed the proposed conclusions of the meeting, including next steps. They focused on: lessons learnt, specific tools to engage MEAs in creating market-based mechanisms for ecosystem services, and the role of UNEP. On lessons learnt in creating MES, Kaveh Zahedi, UNEP/World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), suggested to refer to the opportunity to use natural capital to bring people out of poverty and into the mainstream of economy. He also preferred referring to the necessity of regulatory instruments, rather than their complementarities with market-based instruments. Amanda Hawn, The Ecosystem Marketplace, suggested saying that market-based instruments are one of the available tools.

Above photos L-R: Anantha Duraiappah, IISD; Charles Arden-Clarke, UNEP; Amanda Hawn, The Ecosystem Marketplace and Kaveh Zahedi, UNEP/WCMC

Bakary Kante described the initiative of creating market-based mechanisms for ecosystem services and involving MEAs as a challenge for UNEP as a whole, and underscored UNEP’s strong commitment to it. He called for keeping the momentum created by the July Workshop on “Mainstreaming the Environment beyond MDG-7”, highlighting the need to implement the agreed “next steps” to maintain the credibility of the process. He thanked  chair Swallow for his able chairmanship, the London School of Economics (LSE) for hosting and providing the facilities for the workshop, and the Earth Negotiations Bulletin team for their coverage. The participants then entrusted chair Swallow to finalize both documents based on the comments received and circulate it to participants by email after the workshop. Praising the rewarding exchange of ideas among participants, chair Swallow drew the workshop to a close at 11.36 am (GMT).

Above photos L-R: Bakary Kante, Director, UNEP/DEC; Chair Brent Swallow; Julius Sen, LSE and Jerry Velasquez, UNEP