Five steps towards transformative valuation of nature

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101344
• Publication Date: 2023-09-19T20:12:16Z
• Authors: Mette Termansen; Sander Jacobs; Ram Pandit; Tuyeni H. Mwampamba; Nicolas Dendoncker; Marije Schaafsma; Victoria Contreras; Davide González-J...; Haripriya Gundimeda; Heera Lee; Anna Filyushkina; Mariaelena Huamba...; Ignacio Palomo; Antonio J. Castro
• Keywords: info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/550; 330; 550; ddc:550; 0211 other engineering and technologies; Environmental Sciences (social aspects to be 507); 710; 02 engineering and technology; 15. Life on land; 12. Responsible consumption; Earth sciences; 13. Climate action; 11. Sustainability

The Values Assessment (VA) of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services shows that while a wide range of valuation methods exist to include nature's values in diverse decision-making contexts, uptake of these methods remains limited. Building on the VA, this paper reviews five critical steps in the evaluation of project or policy proposals that can improve the inclusion of nature's values in decisions. Furthermore, improving valuation practice requires guidelines that utilise quality criteria for valuation of nature and ensure a balance between them. This paper proposes three such quality criteria: relevance, robustness and resource efficiency. The paper argues that the five steps and three Rs can generate a practical checklist to support commissioning, evaluation and performance of more plural valuations. Such guidelines can provide the next steps needed to improve uptake of nature valuation in decision-making.