Abstract
The extension of market systems and economic appraisal methods to the natural world and allocation of scarce resources is highly controversial and viewed by some as unethical. This has resulted in questions about the appropriate role of valuation and appraisal methods in informing policy and decision-making. We address this issue by assessing the different points of view that exist in marine research, management and policy communities regarding the estimation of monetary values for marine ecosystems and services and their use in appraisal and policy settings. The principal perspectives emerging from a Q-sort survey of x respondents reveal a clear distinction between a group that is highly sceptical of the framing of human-environment relations in terms of ecosystem services and of the use of economic appraisal and valuation tools in this context, and two or three other groups that are broadly favourable towards that paradigm and its methods, but with slightly different reasons for supporting valuation in practice. Despite the distinguishing features, areas of consensus emerge, including a strong shared perspective that places avoiding damage to marine biodiversity and ecosystems as a fundamental obligation. Furthermore, it is shown that the sceptics do not entirely reject valuation out of hand, but rather express understandable concerns about applicability and appropriate uses that are to some extent recognised by the pro-valuation groups.
Highlights
There is increasing interest from research providers, policy makers and private sector decision makers in using economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services to improve decision making (Austen et al, 2019)
There are many important aspects of human activity that are not fully reflected in market prices. These include our impacts on the natural world and our dependence on the many valuable goods and services provided by ecosystems
Assessing the values of these impacts, goods and services in monetary terms, combined with various tools of economic analysis and appraisal, could help environmental management. This extension of economic methods to the natural world remains controversial and viewed by some as unethical (O’Neill, 1997). This results in disagreements within and between research, conservation and policy communities regarding the appropriate role of valuation and appraisal methods in informing policy and decision-making
Summary
There is increasing interest from research providers, policy makers and private sector decision makers in using economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services to improve decision making (Austen et al, 2019). Assessing the values of these impacts, goods and services in monetary terms, combined with various tools of economic analysis and appraisal, could help environmental management. This extension of economic methods to the natural world remains controversial and viewed by some as unethical (O’Neill, 1997). Some reject the legitimacy of these approaches to assessing ecosystems, and/or see the estimates as invalid measurements that fail to capture the real values at stake (Flyvbjerg, 2009; Spangenberg and Settele, 2010) These divergent points of view make it harder to know whether, how and under what conditions valuation evidence should be generated and used in marine policy and decision-making processes.
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