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STRENGTHENING INDICATORS AND ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL CAPITAL
• clarifying the consequences of action or inaction for
human well-being by measuring our progress and
the efficiency of measures we take (e.g. whether a
subsidy actually helps fish stocks to recover; and
• benchmarking and monitoring performance in
relation to defined targets and communicating
whether, when and by whom targets are met (e.g.
whether deforestation rates are slowed by the use
of the instrument REDD, see Chapter 5).
Biodiversity and ecosystem service indicators can be
useful for these purposes across different sectors and
at different stages of the policy cycle. They can be
applied to: problem recognition (e.g. endangered
habitats and loss of ecosystem services); identification
of solutions (e.g. favourable conservation status and
necessary management activities); assessing and identifying
linkages between policy options (e.g. investment
in protected areas, green infrastructure); the implementation
process (e.g. reforming subsidies, payment for
ecosystem services); and ongoing monitoring and
evaluation (e.g. status and trends). Figure 3.1 shows
how indicators feed into the iterative policy cycle.
To make full use of their potential, indicators need to
be part of an analysis framework that addresses
functional relationships between nature and human
well-being. The DPSIR approach (see Figure 3.2 below)
can be a useful basis for such a framework,
making it possible to characterise/measure driving
forces (e.g. population growth, consumption and production
patterns), pressures (e.g. intensive agriculture,
climate change) on biodiversity state and ecosystem
functions, their impact on the delivery of related
ecosystem services and subsequently on human
well-being and, finally, the (policy) response.
We also need indicators to consider ‘tipping points’ or
‘critical thresholds’ i.e. the point at which a habitat
or a species is lost and the provision of an ecosystem
service is therefore compromised. Used in this way,
indicators can function as an early warning system to
effectively communicate the urgency of targeted
action. Table 3.1 demonstrates how indicators can
be applied to the fisheries sector to reveal the link between
sustainable catch, stock resilience and minimum
viable stock thresholds.
Figure 3.2: Drivers, Pressures, Status, Impact and Responses (DPSIR)
Source: adapted by Chapter 3 authors from Braat and ten Brink 2008
TEEB FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY MAKERS - CHAPTER 3: PAGE 7