Overview of Ongoing MA Followup Activities

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Overview of Ongoing MA Follow-up Activities
Presented by Dr. Bradnee Chambers, UNU-IAS
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Outline

• I. Scientific Research
• II. Sub-global Assessments
• III. Policy Implementation and Decision-making
• Outreach and Education
• Conclusions

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I. Scientific Research

• Establishment of ICSU-UNU-UNESCO Ad Hoc Group
  2006
• Two meetings held Paris, December 06
  Montreal, July 07, Third meeting Dec 07
• Focus on data and knowledge gaps
  supporting/promoting improved collection and use
  of primary data on ecosystem services.
• Prioritize Research Areas
• Suggest Ways/Mechanisms Research can be further
  developed and implemented

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I. Scientific Research

• Likely two products
• Full Length Report for ICSU-UNU-UNESCO Ad Hoc
  Group to use to engage wider scientific community
  
• Smaller piece for Analytical piece for Science
  
• Areas of focus so far
• Strengthening the understanding Biodiversity and
  Ecosystem Services
• Strengthening Economic Evaluation of Ecosystem
  Services
• Quantifying Links between Ecosystem Services and
  HWB
• Modeling and Scenarios
• Data gaps and Monitoring Needs
• Institutions (Unraveling Poverty Ecosystem
  Service linkage, scales and responses to
  direct/indirect drivers)

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I. Scientific Research

• Other Scientific Activities
• Article on post-MA research needs published by
  Carpenter et al. in Science, 13 Oct 2006.
• MIMES (Multiscale Integrated Models of Ecosystem
  Services) developing models on economic value of
  tradeoffs ES.
• US LTER and the Natural Capital Project.
• UK NERC 5-year Ecosystem Services and Poverty
  Alleviation (ESPA) research .
• Other Assessments (i.e. GEO4, Global Marine
  Assessment, AG-Assessment etc)

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II. Sub-global Assessments

• 35 SGAs initiated under MA
• Many still underway though technical support
  ceased
• 13 completed
• some may never finish?
• Emergence of new SGAs
• 9 new Assessments underway
• Recognised that ongoing support of SGAs is a key
  aspect of the MA follow-up.

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Scale Scope of SGAs

• Scales range from local/community based systems
  to national level
• Most assessments focus on work at smaller scales,
  with approximately 40 of SGAs including work at
  the local/community level, 25 focused on the
  sub-national level.
• Regional-level work also seemed to be fairly
  common (approximately 16)
• Generally, inland water, forest and woodland, and
  cultivated lands seem to be the ecosystem types
  most widely covered, closely followed by
  marine/coastal systems and mountainous systems.

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• Contact re-established with SGAs in October
  06\Questionnaire sent to all SGAs
• Responses highlighted many issues and needs
• Constraints in funding, data/information
  availability, capacity, institutional and
  governance arrangements,
• Lack of follow-up,
• Lack of expertise in use of and access to tools,
• Most focus on one scale, and
• Little contact among SGAs since end of MA.

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Strategy for follow-up to MA SGAs

• Harmonise and synergise efforts and initiatives,
• Catalyse new assessment work,
• Mobilise resources and capacity.
• Note a Secretariat at UNU-IAS has been
  formulized full-time person hired

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Framework for MA Follow-up Links Between Global
and Sub-global
Policy Implementation
Outreach Dissemination of findings
Knowledge Base
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III. Policy Implementation Decision-making

• Direct Initiatives
• CBD MA decisions
• Use MA as basis in future work, Urged GEF
  funding, Assessment impact COP9.
• SBSTTA Decision non-papers underway (UNU-UNEP)
• Other MEAs?
• UNDP-UNEP Poverty Environment Initiative
• Use MA as basis to incorporate Ecosystem Services
  into national PRS (Kenya, Mali, Mauritania,
  Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda), pilot
  workshop how-to-do Integrated Assessment)

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III. Policy Implementation Decision-making

• Direct Initiatives
• UK House of Commons MA Report
• Environmental Audit Committee called on UK
  Government to
• galvanize further international action in
  relation on MA follow-up
• support for a Millennium Ecosystem Fund
• initiate more SGAs

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Quotes UK House of Commons MA Report

• MA provides a framework for the successful
  bringing together of development, environment and
  economic policies, we are disappointed that
  governments and development agencies have been
  slow to grasp the importance of the MA and MDG7
• We are frankly disappointed that development
  NGOs have failed to engage more with the MA
  findings. Although we understand that these NGOs
  might focus on the immediate problems associated
  with poverty, such as access to clean water,
  their failure in the long term also to focus on
  the need to maintain ecosystem services will
  ultimately unravel their efforts.
• The MA showed that degradation of ecosystem
  services is a threat to businesses bottom line.
• Due to the serious conclusions drawn from the MA
  we call for urgent, concerted, research at all
  levels to fill the knowledge gaps identified.

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III. Policy Implementation Decision-making

• Direct Initiatives
• Numerous WRI Initiatives
• Guide to Mainstreaming MA in public
  decision-making
• Ecosystem Service Review Methodology for Business
• Evaluation system to determine dependence and
  impact on ecosystem services and business risks
  and opportunities.
• Others (Poverty Ecosystem Service mapping tool,
  Coral Reef ecosystem service evaluation tool,
  Mainstreaming MA in Multilateral Development
  Banks etc).
• Action agenda for business (17 expert papers on
  recommendations to implement MA findings)

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Search for problems faced by Nissan
Impact Assessment on Ecosystem Services NISSAN
We will try to assess which our activities using
MA Framework.
Indirect drivers of change
Human well-being and poverty reduction
Nissans activities
Problems faced by Nissan
Problems produced by Nissan
Water resources
Direct drivers of change
Ecosystem service
Habitat change Climate change Invasive
species Overexploitation Pollution
Biodiversity conservation - Ecosystem -
Species - Genetic
LIFE ON EARTH - BIODIVERSITY
Strategies and intervention
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III. Policy Implementation Decision-making

• Other MA Related Activities
• World Bank projects
• Proposed US Commission on Global Resources,
  Environment, and Security (introduction of draft
  Bill by Senator Sarbanes based on MA)
• Natural Capital Project (Integrated Valuation of
  Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST)
  (Standford U., The Nature Conservatory and WWF)

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IV. Outreach and Education

• Paper on controversy over ecosystem services
  discourse in Ramsar Convention UNCCD
  deliberations.
• MA Biodiversity Synthesis being used in graduate
  course at Kyoto University, Japan.
• Findings of MA used as main focus for UNU Global
  Seminar in Kanazawa, Japan in November 06.
• MA Conceptual Framework used for undergraduate
  course at Keio University, Japan.
• MA report on reading list for undergraduate
  course at McGill University, Canada and at GRIPS,
  Japan.

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V. Conclusions

• Lots activities, but picture of total MA
  follow-up and impact remains blurry
• CBD COP9 will offer a good chance to see more
  clearly (arising from SBTTA)
• Paper on impacts of the MA national impacts is
  now getting underway
• Need for overall coordination, caretaker funding
  and follow-up important.

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Thank You