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STRENGTHENING INDICATORS AND ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL CAPITAL<br />
Box 3.2: Examples of ESS indicators across environmental policy areas<br />
Climate Change – Carbon sequestration/storage rates (Total amount of carbon sequestered/stored<br />
in Gt C0 2 equiv. = sequestration capacity/storage per hectare x total area of ecosystem)<br />
Tropical forests have an annual global sequestration rate of around 1.3 Gt of carbon, or about 15% of total carbon<br />
emissions resulting from human activities. Forests in Central and South America are estimated to take up around<br />
0.6 Gt C, African forests roughly 0.4 Gt, and Asian forests around 0.25 Gt. It is estimated that tropical and<br />
subtropical forests together store nearly 550 Gt of carbon, the largest amount across all biomes. Reforestation<br />
and halting forest degradation could enhance this further (Trumper et al. 2009). The EU therefore supports a<br />
new instrument to generate significant funding to achieve the objective of halting global forest cover loss by 2030<br />
(the Global Forest Carbon Mechanism, see EC 2008b). This approach uses carbon sequestration rates and an<br />
ecosystem’s capacity to store carbon as an indicator to describe benefits arising from forest ecosystems<br />
with regard to climate change mitigation policy. This ecosystem service can also be linked to new financial incentive<br />
mechanisms such as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in developing countries)<br />
being proposed under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). REDD could make explicit<br />
the value of reduced CO 2 emissions and, compared to other GHG emission reduction alternatives, is estimated<br />
to be a low-cost mitigation option (Stern 2006; IPCC 2007; Eliasch 2008). Related policy instruments are<br />
discussed in Chapter 5.<br />
Urban Air Quality – Atmospheric cleansing capacity (e.g. tonnes of particulates removed per hectare<br />
of ecosystem)<br />
A study by Nowak et al. (Powe 2002 and references within) found that urban trees in Philadelphia, USA, had<br />
removed over 1,000 tons of air pollutants from the atmosphere in the year 1994. According to a UK study<br />
(Powe 2002), trees can be seen to absorb large quantities of pollutants e.g. between 391,664-617,790<br />
metric tonnes of PM10 (particulate matter) and 714,158-1,199,840 metric tonnes of SO 2 per year.<br />
Urban planning can use this capacity of green infrastructure to achieve air pollution control targets e.g. air<br />
quality standards. Values can be attached via the avoided morbidity and mortality impacts resulting from<br />
urban green infrastructure’s contribution to reduced air pollution levels. In the context of a ‘bubble’ policy<br />
developed for a specific area (e.g. bubble policies for air pollutants set by the US Environmental Protection<br />
Agency), the development or conservation of green infrastructure could be used to balance air emissions<br />
from sources included in this area. By enabling trading of air emission rights, an economic value can be<br />
attached to such services.<br />
Clean Drinking Water – Removal of nutrients by wetlands (amount/percentage); water quality in aquatic<br />
ecosystems (sediment, turbidity, phosphorus etc.)<br />
Bionade Corporation produces and distributes organically manufactured non-alcoholic drinks in Germany,<br />
with a global turnover of 40 million Euros in 2007. Clean drinking water being a main ingredient, the company<br />
has initiated a project with the German NGO Trinkwasserwald e.V. to create 130 hectares of ‘drinking water<br />
forests’ throughout Germany linked to their capacity to prevent pollution. The NGO indicates that each hectare<br />
of conifer monoculture converted into deciduous broadleaved forest will generate 800,000 l/year for a oneoff<br />
conversion cost of 6,800 EUR/hectare. Private contracts between the NGO and the public or private forest<br />
owners are signed for a period of twenty years (Greiber et al. 2009; for further examples, see Chapter 5).<br />
<strong>TEEB</strong> FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY MAKERS - CHAPTER 3: PAGE 17