The GEF Guidance Document for Economic Valuation in IW Projects, prepared by UNIDO, has been completed and published! The Guidance Document is a reference source and a guide for GEF IW projects and contains step-by-step guidance on the economic valuation of ecosystem services of inland and marine "wet" ecosystems, with a focus on easily applicable and pragmatic valuation approaches. The guidance is usable for both screening and in-depth analyses, and supports the stepwise process leading from Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) to the Strategic Action Programme (SAP).
Ecosystem services are crucial for the well-being of people, but their contribution to economic systems is difficult to quantify in monetary terms. Since some of them are not traded in commercial markets, they are often given too little or no weight in decision making. Thus, final decisions may favor outcomes which do have a commercial value, turning unsustainable use of ecosystems more profitable in a short term while having considerable economic long term costs.
Economic valuation is a tool for valuing ecosystems and their services in monetary terms. It quantifies the benefits provided by ecosystems and the impact of ecosystem changes on the wellbeing of people. Economic valuation also promises to help bridge the gap between science and policy-making by communicating the importance of ecosystems in terms of their economic value to a variety of sectors. While the GEF IW portfolio historically has made use of economic valuation studies (in the Guinea Current and Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem projects, for example), the tool has not been applied in a systematic or widespread manner, as economic valuations are resource-intensive, and expert´s knowledge is generally needed to conduct an analysis "from scratch".
The 7th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference (IWC7) saw special emphasis on reviewing the economic valuation of international waters and the links between economic valuation and science, as well as mechanisms for linking both to policymaking. A key message of IWC7 was that economic valuation can be better integrated in the official TDA-SAP Methodology, and that the GEF should develop a practical manual, specific to the management of GEF IW projects, on how to integrate economic valuation approaches in the TDA-SAP Process. With the Guidance Document at hand, IW project managers are now able to better integrate a basic economic valuation of ecosystem services into the TDA-SAP process.
Besides, the Guidance Document contains templates for reports, ToRs for experts to support the valuation work, a checklist for the valuation itself, and a full set of training materials including exercises for a better understanding of crucial steps in the economic valuation methodologies.
The completion of the Guidance Document was supported with valuable contributions by UNEP, IUCN, GRID-Arendal and UNECE.
Click here to download the Guidance Document. Numerous supporting documents can be found on the GEF IW economic valuation website.
For more information, contact Christian Susan, Project Coordinator, UNIDO.
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