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Recognizing that biodiversity and its resources and functions provide important ecosystem services to humankind that need to be adequately recognized and taken into account in private and public decision-making,
Also recognizing that public and private decisions can be improved if they are informed of the economic value of these ecosystem services under alternative management options and involve deliberative mechanisms that bring to bear non-economic considerations as well,
Recalling that the programme of work on incentive measures adopted by decision VI/15 foresees as one of its expected outcomes “the assessment, as appropriate and applicable to circumstances of Parties, of the values of biodiversity in order to internalize better these values in public policy initiatives and private-sector decisions”,
Underlining that the development and application of practical methods to assess the changes of the value of biodiversity resources and functions, and associated ecosystem services, that result from public and private decision-making, can contribute to meeting the 2010 target,
Recalling that the Conference of the Parties, in decision VI/15, recognized that the full internalization is often not possible because of the limitations of valuation methods, but that identifying and assessing the value of biodiversity and the environmental services it provides can be an incentive in itself and supports the design of other incentive measures,
Also recalling that the recommendations for further cooperation endorsed by decision VI/15, inter alia, call for further cooperative work on valuation methodologies and tools, including their continued exploration as well the development and refining of non-market valuation methods and tools, and for the establishment or strengthening of information systems including on valuation methodologies,
Cognizant that a careful application of valuation methodologies is fairly demanding in terms of capacity and time and that the main constraints are likely to be costs of implementation, understanding the complementarity of approaches, and the lack of trained specialists, especially for developing countries, in particular the least developed and small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition,
Recognizing that benefits transfer has been the subject of considerable controversy in the economics literature,
Also recognizing that theoretical and methodological challenges remain, in particular with regard to an adequate incorporation of biodiversity values in conventional macroeconomic indicators of growth, and that further research directed at the development of a biodiversity adjustment for national accounting seems to be an important means to have biodiversity losses better reflected in macro-economic discourse,
Noting with appreciation the work of other international organizations and initiatives that have developed protocols and guidelines on valuation of biodiversity resources and functions and associated ecosystem services,
1.Takes note of the options for the application of tools for valuation of biodiversity and biodiversity resources and functions annexed to the present decision;
2.Invites Parties and other Governments to take, in accordance with their national policies and legislation, their capacity, and taking into account other international instruments, these options into consideration as possible inputs for analysis when considering, on a voluntary basis, the application of methods for assessing the changes of the value of biodiversity resources and functions, and associated ecosystem services, that result from their decision-making, including through pilot projects;
3.Encourages relevant national, regional and international organizations and initiatives to extend capacity-building and training on the valuation of biodiversity resources and functions and associated ecosystem services, in accordance with the human development processes of countries and with national needs and priorities;
4.Invites national, regional and international organizations and initiatives to promote systematic analysis and information exchange with a view to promote common understanding of valuation techniques and managerial skills in technical staff of Governments and stakeholders to facilitate the extension of capacity-building and training referred to in paragraph 3 above;
5.Invites institutions that support web-based information systems and databases on valuation, in accordance with their mandates, to fully include cases on the valuation of biodiversity resources and functions and associated ecosystem services, especially in developing countries, in particular the least developed and small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition in their databases, and to facilitate access to the databases in particular for experts and practitioners from the countries referred to above;
6.Invites national, regional and international funding institutions to identify gaps and needs to support the building or enhancement of national capacity as well as research and training, including through pilot projects, in accordance with the needs and priorities identified by Parties, for undertaking valuation of biodiversity resources and functions and associated ecosystem services; to support the further development of regional and international capacity such as regional and international information systems and databases on valuation, and to explore options for interlinked funding mechanisms with a view to supporting the design and the harmonized application of valuation tools among different multilateral environmental agreements;
7.Encourages relevant national, regional and international research institutions to strengthen research activities including research cooperation and exchange at national, regional and international levels including through South-South cooperation and/or the establishment of regional research consortia as appropriate, in order to promote a common understanding of valuation techniques among governments and stakeholders, on, inter alia:
(a)Integration of the values of biodiversity resources and functions and associated ecosystem services into national accounting and decision-making, taking into account the conceptual framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment;
(b)Conducting a limited number of pilot valuation studies in developing countries, in particular the least developed and small island developing States among them, in countries with economies in transition and in countries that are centres of origin of biodiversity, with a view to enable Parties to develop, based on such experience, appropriate valuation tools;
(c)Capturing the calculated values through the careful analysis and design of markets for ecosystem services where appropriate, taking into account the three objectives of the Convention;
8.In carrying out the work in paragraphs 6 and 7 above, encourages relevant institutions to support the participation of indigenous and local communities, in order to facilitate the inclusion of cultural values in work on valuation of biodiversity resources and functions and associated ecosystem services with a view to generate valuation mechanisms that are suitable to indigenous and local communities;
9.Invites national, regional and international funding institutions to support the research activities identified in paragraph 7 above;
(a)To continue, in cooperation with, and with input from, Parties, Governments and relevant international organizations, the compilation of information on methods for the valuation of biodiversity resources and functions and associated ecosystem benefits, and to disseminate this information through the clearing-house mechanism of the Convention and other means, including the CBD Technical Series, in order to promote a common understanding of valuation techniques among Governments and stakeholders;
(b)To explore with relevant organizations options for cooperative activities that strengthen existing information systems on valuation methodologies and existing cases for the purpose of the Convention, in accordance with annex II to decision VI/15, in order to promote a common understanding of valuation techniques among governments and stakeholders;
(c)To explore options for the design and application of flexible and reliable innovative tools for assessment and valuation of biodiversity resources and functions and associated ecosystem services;
(d)To prepare, in cooperation with relevant organizations and initiatives, terms of reference for a study on how monitoring can support the implementation of valuation tools and positive incentive measures. The study would propose a framework to capture the relationship between the monitoring of, and the valuation of, biodiversity resources and functions, and would aim to provide Parties with a practical tool to facilitate in-country studies.