Save forests, wetlands to fight climate change: study

Madeline Chambers, Reuters 2 Sep 09;

BERLIN (Reuters) - Governments can help combat climate change by investing more in natural areas, including forests and mangroves, a European study said on Wednesday.

The paper pointed out that nations have natural assets worth trillions of dollars which could help fight global warming and save investment in industrial schemes for carbon capture.

"Natural systems represent one of the biggest untapped allies against the greatest challenge of this generation," said The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study, part of a global project, to be published next year.

Launched by Germany and the European Commission, the report is examining the economics of biodiversity loss.

An investment of $45 billion in protected areas could save nature-based services worth $4.5-$5.2 trillion a year, more than the value of the car, steel and information technology sectors, German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters.

Scientists say preserving nature is crucial in fighting climate change but warn extinctions are speeding up due to human activity. Extinction rates are at 1,000 times their natural pace and three species vanish every hour, research shows.

The study highlighted the role of forests in naturally mitigating CO2 emissions as they absorb an estimated 15 percent of global greenhouse emissions every year.

Agreeing on funding to save forests must be a priority for governments at December's global talks in Copenhagen to try to agree on a successor to the Kyoto protocol on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, said the authors of the report.

"To target the removal of carbon dioxide, the best mechanism we have is in nature. In tropical forests we have both an opportunity and a solution to the significant challenges we face," study leader Pavan Sukhdev told reporters.

The report highlighted the dangers facing coral reefs which have risen due to a build up of greenhouse gases. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations are already irreversibly damaging coral reefs and their extinction would jeopardize the livelihoods of millions of people, said the study.

Coral reefs, which protect coastlines from the effects of global warming and are essential for some kinds of fish, are worth up to $170 billion a year, said the study.

"An estimated half a billion people depend on them for livelihoods and more than a quarter of marine fish species are dependent on coral reefs," said Sukhdev.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme said billions of dollars of government investment in power station carbon capture schemes may not be the full answer.

"Perhaps it is time to subject this to a full cost benefit analysis to see whether the technological option matches nature's ability to capture and store carbon," he said.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Climate change killing corals, costing billions: study
Yahoo News 2 Sep 09;

BERLIN (AFP) – Climate change is killing valuable coral reef systems, a United Nations-backed report published on Wednesday warned.

The report -- entitled "The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity" -- unveiled in Berlin, concluded: "We face the imminent loss of coral reefs due to climate change, with all the serious ecological, social and economic consequences this will entail."

It said coral reef systems were worth up to 172 billion dollars per year in terms of economic activity.

The research, hosted by the UN's Environment Programme and sponsored by the European Commission, Germany and Britain, is intended to inform policymakers' thinking ahead of a crunch climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.

Presenting the report, the project's head, Pavan Sukhdev, stressed the importance of coral reefs to the global environment, saying: "The existence of half a billion people depends on them."

"Over a quarter of all fish species are also dependent on the coral reefs," he added.

To secure the survival of the coral reefs, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels need to be "significantly below 350 parts per million (ppm)" but current levels are 387 ppm.

The report recommended increased investment in "ecological infrastructure" -- conservation of forests, mangroves, river basins and wetlands -- as a means of adapting to climate change.

The report is a draft version of a fuller document that will be presented to world leaders in November ahead of the Copenhagen conference in December that aims to agree a new global climate pact to succeed the expiring Kyoto Protocol.

A second study published earlier Wednesday in Sydney found that Australia's Great Barrier Reef is in serious jeopardy as global warming and chemical runoff threatened to kill marine species and cause serious outbreaks of disease.

The inspiration for the report is the landmark 2006 assessment by British economist Sir Nicholas Stern that sparked awareness about the economic cost of global warming.

Stern said that climate change could shrink the global economy by as much as 20 percent, but if action were taken immediately, the bill would be only one percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

Time to Tap Climate Change-Combating Potential of the World's Ecosystems
UNEP 2 Sep 09;

Inaction Already Threatening Multi-Billion Dollar Coral Reef Services and Livelihoods of Half a Billion People

Berlin, 2 September 2009 - Investing in restoration and maintenance of the Earth's multi-trillion dollar ecosystems - from forests and mangroves to wetlands and river basins - can have a key role in countering climate change and climate-proofing vulnerable economies.

This is among the central findings of a new climate issues update by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), a project launched by Germany and the European Commission in response to a proposal by the G8+5 Environment Ministers (Potsdam, Germany 2007) to develop a global study on the economics of biodiversity loss. The study is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme. The issues update was launched today by TEEB study leader Pavan Sukhdev, with German Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Director-General for Environment, European Commission, Karl Falkenberg; and UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner.

It says the planet's biological diversity and 'ecological infrastructure' are increasingly being put at risk from the impact of climbing greenhouse gases.

Yet natural systems represent one of the biggest untapped allies against the greatest challenge of this generation, says the paper, part of a stream of work towards a final study in 2010.

Pump-Priming Nature's Mitigation and Adaptation Engine

The update underlines that an agreement on funding for forests is a key priority for governments attending the crucial United Nations climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in December.

An estimated 5 gigatonnes or 15 per cent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions - the principal greenhouse gas - are being absorbed or 'sequestrated' by forests every year, making them the "mitigation engine" of the natural world. This could also be described as 'green carbon'.

Investing in ecosystem-based measures such as financing Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) could thus not only assist in combating climate change but could also be a key anti-poverty and adaptation measure.

Forests also provide services such as freshwaters, soil stabilization, nutrients for agriculture, eco-tourism opportunities and food, fuel and fibre - all of which will be key to buffering vulnerable communities against the climate change already underway.

TEEB is urging governments to factor these wider benefits into a forest carbon finance package in order to maximize the return of an agreement in Copenhagen into the future. This might pave the way for a new, Green Economy in the 21st century where natural or nature-based assets become part of mainstream economic and policy planning.

The TEEB climate issues update says that governments can already take steps to include ecosystem services in their national accounts in order to "measure what they manage". In support of this, it suggests that an upgrading of the United Nations' 2003 handbook on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting be carried out to include forest carbon.

While the precise level of investment needed to maintain and enhance carbon storage and adaptation services of ecosystems in a climate-challenged world is unknown, TEEB findings indicate that investing in the Earth's ecological infrastructure has the potential to offer an excellent rate of return.

For example an investment of $45 billion in protected areas alone could secure nature-based services worth some $5 trillion a year.

Coral Reef Emergency: An Ecosystem on a Climatic Knife-Edge

Meanwhile the update highlights some of the consequences if governments fail to rise to the climate change challenge and seal an ambitious deal in Copenhagen. .

It underlines a 'Coral Reef Emergency' that is already here as a result of the current build-up of greenhouse gases.

Scientists contributing to the TEEB process indicate that irreversible damage to coral reefs can occur at atmospheric CO2 concentrations of over 350 parts per million (ppm). This is linked with rising temperatures but also ocean acidification.

Concentrations are already above this threshold and rising. It raises concerns that stabilizing CO2 levels at 450 ppm, or some 16 per cent above the current levels, may condemn this critical, multi-billion dollar ecosystem to extinction and take with it the livelihoods of 500 million people within a matter of decades.

Pavan Sukhdev, TEEB's study leader who is on secondment from Deutsche Bank, said the loss of the world's coral reefs would undermine one of nature's most productive assets and one that has a key role to play in coastal defense against a predicted rise in storm surges and other extreme weather events due to global warming.

"The ecosystem services from coral reefs - ranging from coastal defense to fish nurseries- are worth up to USD$170 billion annually; an estimated half a billion people depend on them for livelihoods and more than a quarter of all marine fish species are dependent on coral reefs".

"The climate stabilization goals of many governments may prove sufficient for some ecosystems and some biodiversity but there is now a real question mark against the survival of coral reefs world-wide and their natural treasure troves," he added.

"The economic consequences are significant, but so are the social and humanitarian ones. It underlines that a simple cost-benefit analysis alone will fail to capture the ethical dimensions of international climate policy decisions now and in the coming years and decades - especially in respect to an ecosystem at a climatic tipping point," said Mr Sukhdev, who also heads up the Green Economy initiative of the UN Environment Programme.

Mr Gabriel said: "Human vulnerability to the harmful impacts of global climate change is significantly increased by the loss of biodiversity. TEEB proves that the protection and restoration of ecological infrastructure is a cost effective means to mitigate global climate change and its effects. To me, ecological restoration is a critical tool in addressing global climate change, enhancing the extent and functioning of carbon sinks as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What we now need is a breakthrough in Copenhagen. We have to recognize that enhancing the resilience of ecosystems and maintaining the planet's biodiversity are key parts of the mitigation and the adaptation agendas."

Mr Falkenberg said: "These TEEB findings demonstrate that climate change and biodiversity loss must be tackled together. They lend further support to the EU's goal of achieving a concrete and ambitious agreement in Copenhagen that comprises both reductions in the world's greenhouse gas emissions and the creation of global mechanisms to stop tropical deforestation. Quite simply, we will not manage to halt biodiversity loss if we do not mitigate climate change. And we will not be able to mitigate and adapt to climate change if we do not protect our valuable ecosystems and biodiversity."

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP, said:

"It is clearly emerging that investments in the planet's ecosystem infrastructure can deliver the twin, Green Economy gains of curbing and cutting emissions while assisting vulnerable communities to adapt".

"Currently governments are considering multi-billion dollar investments in carbon capture and storage at power stations. Perhaps it is time to subject this to a full cost benefit analysis to see whether the technological option matches nature's ability to capture and store carbon - a natural system that has been perfected over millions of years and with the multiple additional benefits for water supplies up to reversing the rate of biodiversity loss," he added.

Climate targets 'will kill coral'
Richard Black, BBC News 2 Sep 09;

Current climate targets are not enough to save the world's coral reefs - and policymakers urgently need to consider the economic benefits they bring.

Those are two of the conclusions from a UN-backed project aiming to quantify the financial costs of damaging nature.

Studies suggest that reefs are worth more than $100bn (£60bn) annually, but are already being damaged by rising temperatures and more acidic oceans.

The study puts the cost of forest loss at $2-5 trillion annually.

Looking ahead to December's UN climate conference in Copenhagen, study leader Pavan Sukhdev said it was vital that policymakers realised that safeguarding the natural world was a cost-effective way of protecting societies against the impacts of rising greenhouse gas levels.

Green roots

The current UN climate negotiations contain measures for protecting forests as carbon stores - an initiative called Redd (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation).

Its roots lie in the calculation that forest loss accounts for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, and that combating it is probably the cheapest way of reducing emissions overall.

But protecting societies against climate impacts (climate adaptation) will also be a key component of any Copenhagen deal, because it is the single biggest priority for many developing nations.

The TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) analysis emphasises that forests, coral reefs and many other ecosystems can be the cheapest "adaptation tools" as well.

"We feel this isn't really at the top of politicians' minds at the moment," he told BBC News.

"But when you decide how you invest money for climate adaptation, you should quickly come to the conclusion that ecology provides the best bangs for bucks - and that's even without taking into account the added benefits of saving biodiversity."

Mr Sukhdev, who is on secondment to the UN Environment Programme (Unep) from the global markets division of Deutsche Bank, cited studies showing that money spent on nature preservation provided rates of return of between three and 75 times the initial investment.

Preserving forests kept fresh water systems intact, he noted. Coral reefs and mangroves protected communities from storm damage; and healthy ecosystems were essential for food production.

Reef nots

There are a number of somewhat notional targets on the table in the run-up to Copenhagen.

One, an EU initiative that now has much wider support, is to keep the global average temperature rise since the pre-industrial age within 2C - which according to some analyses means carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere cannot rise above 450 parts per million (ppm).

The current level is about 387ppm, and it is rising at about 2ppm each year, although this year's global recession may bring a blip.

Mr Sukhdev's team heard evidence from coral scientists that these targets would not be enough to prevent damage to coral reefs around the tropics.

"There's evidence that current levels of CO2 are already causing damage to reefs," said Alex Rogers from London's Institute of Zoology.

"Stabilising at anything more than about 350ppm will lead to further destruction, and really we need to be aiming for zero emissions."

Elevated carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have a twin impact on coral. They warm the oceans; but also, a portion of the extra CO2 becomes dissolved in seawater, which makes it slightly more acidic (or less alkali).

Ocean pH levels have already decreased by about 0.1 since pre-industrial times.

A 2007 study showed that rates of coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef had fallen by 14% since 1990.

TEEB's analysis suggests that between half a billion and one billion people depend on coral reefs for at least part of their food supply.

Set up in 2007 by the German government and the European Commission, TEEB is now supported by some other governments (including the UK) and by Unep.

Its final report is due out in the second half of 2010, just before a key meeting of the UN biodiversity convention.

For that analysis, Mr Sukhdev's team will also attempt to capture the economics of fisheries loss, and finalise a complex matrix giving legislators comprehensive information about the costs and benefits of protecting - or destroying - various aspects of the natural world.

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION
# Up to 50% of the CO2 released by burning fossil fuels over the past 200 years has been absorbed by the world's oceans
# This has lowered the pH value of seawater - the measure of acidity and alkalinity - by 0.1
# The vast majority of liquids lie between pH 0 (very acidic) and pH 14 (very alkaline); 7 is neutral
# Seawater is mildly alkaline with a "natural" pH of about 8.2
# The IPCC forecasts that ocean pH will fall by "between 0.14 and 0.35 units over the 21st Century, adding to the present fall of 0.1 units since pre-industrial times"

Climate-change-combating Potential Of The World's Ecosystems Described In New Report
ScienceDaily 2 Sep 09;

Investing in restoration and maintenance of the Earth's multi-trillion dollar ecosystems - from forests and mangroves to wetlands and river basins - can have a key role in countering climate change and climate-proofing vulnerable economies.

This is among the central findings of a new climate issues update by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), a project launched by Germany and the European Commission in response to a proposal by the G8+5 Environment Ministers (Potsdam, Germany 2007) to develop a global study on the economics of biodiversity loss. The study is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme. The issues update was launched today by TEEB study leader Pavan Sukhdev, with German Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel; Director-General for Environment, European Commission, Karl Falkenberg; and UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner.

It says the planet's biological diversity and 'ecological infrastructure' are increasingly being put at risk from the impact of climbing greenhouse gases.

Yet natural systems represent one of the biggest untapped allies against the greatest challenge of this generation, says the paper, part of a stream of work towards a final study in 2010.

Pump-Priming Nature's Mitigation and Adaptation Engine

The update underlines that an agreement on funding for forests is a key priority for governments attending the crucial United Nations climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in December.

An estimated 5 gigatonnes or 15 per cent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions - the principal greenhouse gas - are being absorbed or 'sequestrated' by forests every year, making them the "mitigation engine" of the natural world. This could also be described as 'green carbon'.

Investing in ecosystem-based measures such as financing Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) could thus not only assist in combating climate change but could also be a key anti-poverty and adaptation measure.

Forests also provide services such as freshwaters, soil stabilization, nutrients for agriculture, eco-tourism opportunities and food, fuel and fibre — all of which will be key to buffering vulnerable communities against the climate change already underway.

TEEB is urging governments to factor these wider benefits into a forest carbon finance package in order to maximize the return of an agreement in Copenhagen into the future. This might pave the way for a new, Green Economy in the 21st century where natural or nature-based assets become part of mainstream economic and policy planning.

The TEEB climate issues update says that governments can already take steps to include ecosystem services in their national accounts in order to "measure what they manage". In support of this, it suggests that an upgrading of the United Nations' 2003 handbook on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting be carried out to include forest carbon.

While the precise level of investment needed to maintain and enhance carbon storage and adaptation services of ecosystems in a climate-challenged world is unknown, TEEB findings indicate that investing in the Earth's ecological infrastructure has the potential to offer an excellent rate of return.

For example an investment of $45 billion in protected areas alone could secure nature-based services worth some $5 trillion a year.

Coral Reef Emergency: An Ecosystem on a Climatic Knife-Edge

Meanwhile the update highlights some of the consequences if governments fail to rise to the climate change challenge and seal an ambitious deal in Copenhagen.

It underlines a 'Coral Reef Emergency' that is already here as a result of the current build-up of greenhouse gases.

Scientists contributing to the TEEB process indicate that irreversible damage to coral reefs can occur at atmospheric CO2 concentrations of over 350 parts per million (ppm). This is linked with rising temperatures but also ocean acidification. Concentrations are already above this threshold and rising. It raises concerns that stabilizing CO2 levels at 450 ppm, or some 16 per cent above the current levels, may condemn this critical, multi-billion dollar ecosystem to extinction and take with it the livelihoods of 500 million people within a matter of decades.

Pavan Sukhdev, TEEB's study leader who is on secondment from Deutsche Bank, said the loss of the world's coral reefs would undermine one of nature's most productive assets and one that has a key role to play in coastal defense against a predicted rise in storm surges and other extreme weather events due to global warming.

"The ecosystem services from coral reefs - ranging from coastal defense to fish nurseries - are worth up to USD$170 billion annually; an estimated half a billion people depend on them for livelihoods and more than a quarter of all marine fish species are dependent on coral reefs".

"The climate stabilization goals of many governments may prove sufficient for some ecosystems and some biodiversity but there is now a real question mark against the survival of coral reefs world-wide and their natural treasure troves," he added.

"The economic consequences are significant, but so are the social and humanitarian ones. It underlines that a simple cost-benefit analysis alone will fail to capture the ethical dimensions of international climate policy decisions now and in the coming years and decades -especially in respect to an ecosystem at a climatic tipping point," said Mr Sukhdev, who also heads up the Green Economy initiative of the UN Environment Programme.

Mr Gabriel said: "Human vulnerability to the harmful impacts of global climate change is significantly increased by the loss of biodiversity. TEEB proves that the protection and restoration of ecological infrastructure is a cost effective means to mitigate global climate change and its effects. To me, ecological restoration is a critical tool in addressing global climate change, enhancing the extent and functioning of carbon sinks as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What we now need is a breakthrough in Copenhagen. We have to recognize that enhancing the resilience of ecosystems and maintaining the planet's biodiversity are key parts of the mitigation and the adaptation agendas."

Mr Falkenberg said: "These TEEB findings demonstrate that climate change and biodiversity loss must be tackled together. They lend further support to the EU's goal of achieving a concrete and ambitious agreement in Copenhagen that comprises both reductions in the world's greenhouse gas emissions and the creation of global mechanisms to stop tropical deforestation. Quite simply, we will not manage to halt biodiversity loss if we do not mitigate climate change. And we will not be able to mitigate and adapt to climate change if we do not protect our valuable ecosystems and biodiversity."

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP, said: "It is clearly emerging that investments in the planet's ecosystem infrastructure can deliver the twin, Green Economy gains of curbing and cutting emissions while assisting vulnerable communities to adapt."

"Currently governments are considering multi-billion dollar investments in carbon capture and storage at power stations. Perhaps it is time to subject this to a full cost benefit analysis to see whether the technological option matches nature's ability to capture and store carbon - a natural system that has been perfected over millions of years and with the multiple additional benefits for water supplies up to reversing the rate of biodiversity loss," he added.

The Coral Reef data was drawn from a scientific statement on climate change and coral reefs published at a Royal Society Meeting organised by ZSL, the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) and the Royal Society on 6 July 2009.

Economic valuation of human welfare benefits derived from coral reefs was estimated at $172 billion annually (Martinez et al. 2007).
Adapted from materials provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.