Emerging markets + Environmental responsibility = Big financial rewards

Sustainability and environmental responsibility may not be viewed as a priority in developing countries focused on raising citizens out of poverty. “But the developed world does not have a monopoly on visionaries,” according to a new article in Harvard Business Review. Rather, in markets where the pressures of resource depletion are felt most keenly, corporate sustainability has become a source of innovation.

In one example, Egypt’s first organic farm lowered costs, improved yields by 30 percent, and produced higher quality raw cotton. Far from being an expensive indulgence, organic cotton offered a business model that was more sustainable not just environmentally but financially.

A review of more than 1,000 companies by Boston Consulting Group and the World Economic Forum identified more than a dozen champions whose sustainability practices were “effective, innovative, and scalable.” To make their environmental efforts pay off financially, companies followed one of these approaches:

• Taking a long view, investing in methods of sustainable operation that led to dramatically lower costs and higher yields
• A bootstrap approach starting with cost savings from small changes which funded advanced technologies that made production more efficient
• Spreading sustainability efforts to the operations of customers and suppliers

The companies highlighted in Making Sustainability Profitable demonstrate that economic development and environmental sustainability are not mutually exclusive. Instead, visionary enterprises in emerging markets are showing us that environmentally responsible approaches can lead to big financial rewards.

Industrial Scars at TEDx Berlin...

J Henry Fair makes "beautiful pictures of something horrible." His aerial photography of industrial landscapes has been something of an inspiration to me, which is why we have two prints from Industrial Scars in our living room.

Henry explains his art and the motivation behind it at TEDx Berlin. His book, The Day After Tomorrow: Images of Our Earth in Crisis, is highly recommended. A link back to an earlier post about Henry's work is available here.

Prospects for a green economy...

Orakarg (Agenda) business newspaper conducted this interview about prospects for a Green Economy in Armenia after my talk at TEDx Yerevan on Redefining our economic systems: Could a forest be worth more than a gold mine? The article was titled, Finding wealth in the soil: Green economy can replace mining.

Պրն Սոհիգյան, ի՞նչ է կանաչ տնտեսությունը:

Կանաչ տնտեսությունը հասկացություն է, որն առաջին անգամ օգտագործվել է ՄԱԿ-ի շրջակա միջավայրի պահպանության ծրագրում՝ նկարագրելու տնտեսության այնպիսի մոդել, որը կարող է նպաստել մարդկանց բարեկեցությանը և սոցիալական հավասարությանը՝ միաժամանակ նվազեցնելով ռիսկերը շրջակա միջավայրի համար: Այս թեման քննարկումների լայն ալիք է ստեղծել համաշխարհային հարթակներում, քանի որ այսօր մենք կանգնած ենք բնական ռեսուրսների ոչնչացման եզրին: Այս թեմային է նվիրված նաև «Կայուն զարգացում» խորագրով «Ռիո 20» համաժողով:

Կանաչ տնտեսության կարևորությունն այն է, որ գոյություն ունի կապ, ասենք, անտառների և ջրային ռեսուրսների միջև, ինչի պատճառով բիզնեսը կախված է շրջակա միջավայրից: Անտառները թույլ են տալիս պաշտպանվել ջրհեղեղներից և ապահովում են հողատարածքների վերականգնումը: Հետևաբար, շրջակա միջավայրի ռազմավարությունը կարող է պաշտպանել կարևոր ջրբաժանները անտառների պահպանության միջոցով: Այսինքն՝ բնության մեջ ամեն ինչ փոխկապակցված է, ինչը կարելի է օգտագործել տնտեսական նկատառումներով:

Հայաստանի համար որքանո՞վ է կարևոր կանաչ տնտեսությունը, եթե հաշվի առնենք, որ, օրինակ, տնտեսությունը ծայրահեղորեն կախված է հանքարդյունաբերությունից:

2011թ. սեպտեմբերին երևանյան TEDx-ին իմ ելույթում ես նշեցի, որ Հայաստանի տնտեսության համար ռազմավարական նշանակություն ունեցող առնվազն երեք ոլորտներ կախված են շրջակա միջավայրից: Դա ըմպելիքների արտադրության, տուրիզմի և հիդրոէներգետիկայի ոլորտներն են, որոնցից յուրաքանչյուրը Հայաստանի տնտեսության կարևոր մասն է:

The rest of the interview is available here. Stay tuned for a follow up article on this topic in English in the coming weeks.

Pavan Sukhdev discusses the economic invisibility of nature at TED Global...

In this talk from TEDGlobal, Pavan Sukhdev explains the economic invisibility of nature and why we need to correct this market failure. He outlines the value of natural capital and explains why it is characterized as an externality because it is not priced by markets. This becomes a challenge because it often leads to the overexploitation and subsequent scarcity of resources that may be irreplaceable. Pavan points out that we are losing natural capital at an extraordinary rate, with implications that may be more severe than the global financial crisis.

Pavan is the CEO of GIST Advisory, an environmental consulting firm which helps governments and corporations manage their impacts on natural capital. He founded the Global Markets Centre in Mumbai and took a sabbatical from Deutsche Bank to lead UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative and the G8+5 commissioned project on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). Pavan was a speaker at the World Economic Forum in 2010 and 2011 and he serves on the boards of Conservation International and the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

The research done by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity initiative was cited in my talk on Redefining Our Economic Systems at TEDx Yerevan. Pavan's talk is well worth watching.

Redefining our economic systems @TEDx Yerevan…

Just when I thought this day couldn’t get any better, coverage of my talk at TEDx Yerevan, "Redefining Our Economic Systems: Could a Forest Be Worth More Than a Gold Mine?" hit National Geographic Online. The premise was that forests are a form of green infrastructure that have a range of values worth more than firewood or building material and that these could be worth more than a gold mine. The issue is significant because the region is one of the planet’s most endangered “hotspots for biodiversity” and the country’s economy is dependent on mining.

In addition, resources like forests and water are becoming scarce as a result of unsustainable management and climate change while several strategic industries are heavily reliant on the “natural capital” provided by forests. National Geographic’s coverage by Kara Marston of the event at the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies is available here. The video of the talk was posted by TEDx here:



The talk is based on my master's thesis on “How Payments for Environmental Services Can Deliver Co-Benefits for Business and Sustainable Development: A Conservation Finance Strategy to Protect Armenia’s Natural Heritage,” and I cited data from UNEP's program on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. The research was presented earlier this year at the 17th International Sustainable Development Research Conference hosted by the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the United Nations Division of Sustainable Development.

The concepts of forest valuation and understanding our dependence on ecosystem services are becoming more mainstream, especially among large corporations and in conversations about creating a Green Economy. The following sites provide further information: Bank of Natural Capital, Corporate Ecosystem Services Review, Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation. Stay tuned...

PFA issues new report on state of Armenia’s environment…

Policy Forum Armenia has issued its first annual report on The State of Armenia’s Environment. According to its website, PFA has a “hybrid mission,” operating as a think tank and an advocacy group. With an international network of members, PFA’s stated objective is to offer professional analysis with innovative and practical recommendations for public policy design.

The 32-page study provides an overview of environmental challenges facing Armenia in areas including water resources, air pollution, the adequacy of nature reserves, deforestation, and energy. The report argues that improving environmental governance requires increased transparency and public participation in policy decisions as well as the enforcement of existing environmental laws.

A major section of the report is a case study of the open pit copper mine in northern Armenia, where the Teghut Forest has been cleared to create a tailing dump. “[Teghut] is an example of one facility where both urgent policy changes and adequate enforcement of existing policies are needed,” notes PFA.

The authors state that Armenia is a country of rich biodiversity with more than 3,500 plant species and 17,500 invertebrate and vertebrate species including the endangered Caucasian Leopard. However, mismanagement and the rapid growth of some sectors of the economy during the last decade created serious environmental challenges. The report concludes that “environmental protection should constitute a key element of Armenia’s developmental strategy.”

“Despite the fact that the prevailing developmental policy thinking is heavily skewed toward extractive industries, decisions about whether or not to undertake new large-scale projects with potentially sizable environmental impact in Armenia must be considered with the country’s long-term benefits and objectives in mind,” notes the PFA study.

It is especially interesting that PFA’s second “state of the nation” report has addressed environmental issues, particularly since this integral aspect of sustainable development has not been widely considered in Armenia. For example, a 2006 conference hosted by the Armenian International Policy Research Group titled, Armenia: Challenges of Sustainable Development, did not give environmental issues any consideration on the agenda.

The focus of sustainable development in Armenia has been on economic and social issues, while attention to environmental conservation has not been widely understood as a current strategic priority. Hopefully this annual report will contribute to a broader understanding of sustainable development and raise the level of dialogue to a new level.

New study looks at aggregation & mitigation to finance forest conservation…

The Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest has released a new research publication, Financing Forest Conservation Across the Commonwealth: Using Aggregation and Mitigation to Conserve the Forests of Massachusetts. I worked on the study over the past year with James Levitt and several others. I met Jim at Harvard after his guest lecture in the course taught by Mark Leighton on Conservation Biology and Sustainable Use of Forested Landscapes. He has been a great mentor and I owe him a great deal of thanks for his introduction to the field of Conservation Finance.

Last year Jim invited me to work on this case study on forest aggregation in Massachusetts, which is a pioneering effort led by a group of individuals and organizations to increase the pace of land conservation in a region threatened by parcelization and development. The goal of this effort is consistent with the new Harvard Forest Wildlands and Woodlands Vision for the New England Landscape.

In order to complete the research I had to turn down a couple of TA offers, took some time off from my work at Armenia Tree Project to attend meetings at the Harvard Forest, and to attend meetings of the Financing Forest Conservation Board of Advisors at the State House, at Appalachian Mountain Club, and at the New England Forestry Foundation.

The forest aggregation program highlighted in this report is an inspiring effort to achieve landscape-scale conservation that takes natural capital, social capital, and financial capital into account. It was even highlighted by the New York Times as a conservation finance innovation. I would like to extend my thanks to Jim and the many leaders of this effort that are highlighted in the report and that supported this research, including the Harvard Forest and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust.

Russian news agency reports on environmental crisis in Armenia…

During a two-day visit to Armenia by President Dmitry Medvedev, RIA Novosti published an article by journalist Diana Markosian about the country’s forest and water resources, and how these may be impacted by climate change. She points out that logging is leading to desertification, which will be exacerbated by increasing temperatures.

(Photo in Lori region by Jason Sohigian)

The first national report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change warned, for example, that a two-degree Celsius increase over the 21st century will decrease the total annual flow of water in Armenia by 15 to 20 percent.

In a study by the Stockholm Environment Institute, The Socio-Economic Impact of Climate Change in Armenia, the United Nations Development Program warns that “Armenia’s future economic development will depend on the decisions that the current generation makes about investments in adaptation [to climate change].”

Armenia Tree Project has been planting trees to mitigate the impacts of climate change, but the effort may not be enough to solve the problem. With only eight percent forest cover, Armenia is still exporting wood according to the National Statistical Service. In the last 16 years, ATP has planted 3,500,000 trees around the country.

Associate Director Areg Maghakian tells RIA Novosti that reforestation is “an issue of national security” and that the government must take the initiative in order to address it adequately.

I was also interviewed for the story: “Armenia is focused on economic and social development, but the third aspect of sustainable development is environmental impacts. Business and economic development have been identified as a priority. That’s obviously very important, but business and life itself are supported by natural ecosystem services like forests, water, soil, and clean air, which can’t be easily replaced when they are degraded or depleted.”

Harvard Forest releases Wildlands & Woodlands Vision for New England…

Experts from the Harvard Forest launched Wildlands & Woodlands: A Vision for the New England Landscape today at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The program included remarks by Henry Lee, director of the Environment and Natural Resources Program at the Kennedy School, James Levitt, director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, Theodore Roosevelt IV, chairman of Barclays Capital Council on Climate Change, and David Foster, director of the Harvard Forest.

The story of New England’s forests is remarkable because European colonists displaced Native Americans and rapidly transformed the land to farms. The region was almost completely deforested after being an overwhelmingly forested land for more than 10,000 years. As transportation improved, New England farmers found it difficult to compete with large-scale food production from across the nation. Farms were abandoned and the landscape returned to forest through a process of natural regeneration over the past 150 years. Currently, New England is 80 percent forested while at the same time being one of the most densely populated regions of the country.

Experts from the Harvard Forest have noted, however, that these new forests are increasingly threatened by residential sprawl, commercial development, and landscape fragmentation. In response, the Wildlands & Woodlands vision calls for a 50-year conservation effort to retain at least 70 percent of New England in forestland that is free from development (30 million acres). Ninety percent of the forests would be conserved by willing landowners as sustainably managed woodlands for multiple uses and 10 percent of forests would be wildland reserves (3 million acres).

Achieving the vision will require a doubling of the current rate of land conservation in New England, noted Dr. Foster in his remarks. While this might seem like an ambitious goal, the cost of losing forests and the natural ecosystem services they provide would be much greater than the cost of conserving forests.

Since 80 percent of the forests in New England are privately owned, achieving the vision will require the support of landowners interested in protecting their forests as a legacy for future generations. Conservation tools will include easements sold or donated by willing landowners, enhanced tax incentives, and acquisitions by private, public, and non-profit organizations.

Dr. Foster pointed out that the Wildlands & Woodlands vision does not advocate for, but does allow for a doubling of the amount of developed land. At the same time, the report notes that we can’t afford to lose much more forest and still have widespread access to clean, affordable water, natural carbon sequestration that mitigates the impact of climate change, and widespread use and enjoyment of forested lands.

In his comments about the Wildlands & Woodlands vision (click here to view), Mr. Roosevelt noted that the work of David Foster and his colleagues is about ecological values, community values, and property values. In short, the Wildlands & Woodlands vision succeeds in aligning ecological values and economic values in its analysis, while acknowledging the central role of local stakeholders and social capital in the process.

Addressing the issue of conservation finance for this ambitious proposal, Mr. Roosevelt emphasized the need for a price on carbon so landowners can benefit from the carbon sequestration provided by the sustainable management of their forest lands. Mr. Roosevelt, who is chairman of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, concluded that the Wildlands & Woodlands approach will provide the kind of resiliency required at the landscape-scale for biodiversity to adapt to the anticipated impacts of climate change.

Book highlights exemplary Conservation Finance initiatives…

A new book published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Conservation Capital in the Americas: Exemplary Conservation Finance Initiatives, is a collection of papers presented at a conference of the same name in Valdivia. The book was published in collaboration with the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.

Edited by James Levitt of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, the collection is an insightful follow-up to his last book, From Walden to Wall Street: Frontiers of Conservation Finance. Authors reviewed many of the leading approaches to conservation finance used to protect land and biodiversity. These include carbon finance and ecosystem service markets to conserve forest lands, conservation investment banking methods such as debt-for-nature swaps, and the use of tax policies to finance conservation.

The following are just a few examples of insights taken from the case studies.

Chile’s Private Lands Conservation Initiative, reviewed by Henry Tepper, Victoria Alonso, Antonio Lara, and Rocio Urrutia:

• Measured values of ecosystem services are usually greater than the operating costs of protected areas, so payments for ecosystem services would provide resources for conservation
• A group of prominent business leaders joined the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce and the Nature Conservancy to advocate for financial incentives including changes to tax laws to protect private lands
• The effort was inspired by the land trust movement in the US, whose success was attributed to the development of legal instruments to protect private lands, notably conservation easements
• An effort has been underway since 2008 to allow private landowners to put a derecho real de conservacion (real right of conservation) on designated lands to secure the perpetual protection of that land

Ecuador’s ChoCO2 Conservation Carbon project, reviewed by Ben Vitale, Tannya Lozada, and Luis Suarez:

• Developing countries often have conflicting laws regarding land tenure, while Ecuador has clarified regulations that would be required for forest carbon ownership rights under a variety of land tenure circumstances
• The Conservation International ChoCO2 project to restore 500 ha of native forest in the Choco-Manabi region of Ecuador is one of the few forestry projects developed as part of the CDM
• The project is expected to sequester 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide over 30 years, and Ricoh Company agreed to finance an annual stream of payments to cover the front-loaded projects costs
• Project benefits must overcome the opportunity cost of land allocated to forest carbon projects, which may be possible by monetizing multiple ecosystem benefits that will diversify revenue

Costa Rica’s Payments for Ecosystem Services program, reviewed by Shannon Meyer:

• Paying landowners to protect and sustainably manage forests benefits society at large by reducing soil loss and improving water quality, tourism and recreation benefits, biodiversity protection, and carbon storage
• Rather than measuring each ecosystem service provided by protected forest land, the Costa Rica program assumes that every acre provides an identically valued bundle of services
• The program was partially funded by a tax on gasoline, as well as by hydropower producers that benefited from the hydrological services provided by the conserved forest lands
• The program also depended on financing from the World Bank, GEF, and KfW, while efforts to convince the ecotourism industry to internalize the cost of benefits provided by the conserved forests have not been successful

The book’s contributors are from prominent organizations including Conservation International, National Audubon Society, Nature Conservancy, Open Space Institute, Pacific Forest Trust, Root Capital, and Trust for Public Land. Conservationists, project investors, and policymakers will benefit from the essays, which review the latest innovations in conservation finance and the use of emerging financial mechanisms to protect ecosystems and biodiversity.

Reflecting on the field of conservation finance and the success of the conference in Chile, Levitt sums up the issues: “How do we find the financial capital--as well as the human, social, and natural capital--to steward the earth’s resources for this and future generations? Where do we find the money, the talent, and the political will to do the jobs necessary to address complex threats to wildlife and habitat and to ecosystems that provide a spectrum of essential services that sustain life?”

Conservation Capital in the Americas provides at least some of the answers in this series of 14 essays written by recognized and emerging innovators from around the world in the field of conservation.

Stockholm Environment Institute looks at climate change in Armenia...

The UNDP Armenia has released a thorough and alarming study conducted by the Stockholm Environment Institute on The Socio-Economic Impact of Climate Change in Armenia. The 130-page report was written by Elizabeth A. Stanton, Frank Ackerman, and Flavia Resende, who are highly respected experts in the field of environmental economics.

The study points out that climate change will have far-reaching effects on social and economic life, and the ability for people to adapt will depend on whether or not funding will be available to support adaptive policy measures and how quickly these policies can be implemented. “Armenia’s future economic development will depend on the decisions that the current generation makes about investments in adaptation [to climate change],” warns the report.

According to this UNDP study, national scenarios forecast an increase to Armenia’s average annual temperature to be 4.5 degrees C in the lowlands and 7 degrees C in the highlands over the next century. Average annual precipitation is expected to decrease by as much as 9 percent, with the biggest reductions predicted for Yerevan and the Ararat Valley, which can expect 30 percent less precipitation by 2100. Higher temperatures will lead to more evaporation which means less soil moisture and reductions of up to 24 percent in river flows, which will reduce the availability of water for agriculture and power generation.

On an optimistic note, the experts from the Stockholm Environment Institute point out that many of the best available climate adaptation policy measures can be important for Armenia’s economic development. These include improving water and power generation infrastructure, integrating climate adaptation in plans for economic development and energy production, planning for more efficient use of resources in the context of growth and higher rates of consumption, and considering the needs and vulnerabilities of rural and low income households.

“Unless quick action is taken on large-scale adaptation measures, it is unlikely that Armenian families, their livelihoods, or their economy will be unscathed by climate change. Armenia’s poor and especially its rural poor populations will be particularly vulnerable,” warn the authors. “Social impacts will include an increased incidence of illness from heat waves as temperatures rise, a shortage of water and an increase to electricity tariffs as competing needs collide, food shortages or increased food prices as agricultural productivity falters, and an increased incidence of dangerous and damaging landslides, mudflows, and floods as dry soil and deforestation coincide with extreme storms.”

UNDP representative Dirk Boberg points out that this report is a pilot process undertaken by UNDP in only a few countries. He indicates that the priority sectors for adaptation to the impacts of climate change are water, agriculture, energy, and forests. “[This study] provides economic analysis and recommendations for decision-makers that need to manage the impacts of climate change by minimizing negative impacts and maximizing adaptation opportunities,” he writes in the foreword to The Socio-Economic Impact of Climate Change in Armenia.

European study addresses the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity…

As a follow up to my Sept. 11 post, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity released its report for policymakers. According to this study, factoring multi-trillion dollar ecosystem services into national and international investment strategies are likely to deliver high rates of return and strong economic growth in the 21st century. Some countries are making the link and seeing benefits in terms of economic returns that outstrip those wedded to economic models of the previous century, notes a press release from the UN Environment Program.

The report, subtitled Responding to the Value of Nature, calls on policymakers to accelerate, scale-up, and embed investments in the management and restoration of ecosystems. “Nature’s multiple and complex values have direct economic impacts on human well-being and public and private spending. Recognizing and rewarding the value delivered to society by the natural environment must become a policy priority,” noted TEEB study leader Pavan Sukhdev at a press conference in Brussels.

The report has a number of recommendations, including investing in ecological infrastructure. This can provide cost-effective opportunities to increase resilience to climate change, reduce risk from natural hazards, improve food and water security, and contribute to poverty alleviation. Investments in maintenance and conservation are almost always cheaper than trying to restore damaged ecosystems and the social benefits that flow from restoration can be several times higher than the costs.

Since protected areas are a cornerstone of conservation policies and provide multiple benefits, an investment of $45 billion US in protected areas could secure vital nature-based services worth $5 trillion US a year, including the sequestration of carbon, the protection and enhancement of water resources, and protection against flooding. The global protected area network covers 13.9 percent of the Earth’s land surface and nearly one-sixth of the world’s population depend on these lands for a significant percentage of their livelihoods.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity was launched by Germany and the European Commission in 2007 to develop a global study on the economics of biodiversity loss. TEEB is hosted by UNEP with financial support from the European Commission, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and United Kingdom. The latest study is one of a series of five interconnected reports which will be released through 2010, including an analysis of the economic values for the main types of ecosystem services around the world.

Publications review latest Conservation Finance & Forest Carbon programs…

I have been reading two important resources on Conservation Finance and Forest Carbon and wanted to share the titles since they are highly recommended for conservation professionals.

The first, Guide to Conservation Finance, focuses on new sources of sustainable financing for conservation, including Payments for Ecosystem Services and other market-based economic instruments. This publication outlines mechanisms that have been implemented around the world, and case studies demonstrate both successes and challenges facing project developers.

The Guide to Conservation Finance was released by World Wildlife Fund this month and provides an overview of topics including Carbon Finance, Payments for Watershed Services, Tourism and Recreation Revenue Programs, Mitigation Banking and Biodiversity Offsets, and Environmental Investment Funds.

Deforestation has been a major driver of climate change, so it is widely understood that its reversal must be an integral part of the solution. In Climate Change and Forests: Emerging Policy and Market Opportunities, international experts explain the links between climate change and forests, highlighting the potential role of this sector within emerging climate policy frameworks.

Climate Change and Forests provides an excellent overview of forestry and the Clean Development Mechanism, emerging programs to finance avoided deforestation, and the growing voluntary carbon markets. The authors are prominent innovators in this field, and the book includes chapters on Risks and Criticism of Forestry-Based Climate Change Mitigation and Carbon Trading, Rewarding Developing Countries for Protecting Forest Carbon, and Carving a Niche for Forestry in the Voluntary Carbon Markets.

The first chapter by editors Charlotte Streck, Robert O’Sullivan, Toby Janson-Smith, and Richard Tarasofsky is available from the publisher here.

Ecosystems are climate mitigation and adaptation engines...

A new study by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project launched by Germany and the European Commission reports that investing in the 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.

A Climate Issues Update was launched this month by study leader Pavan Sukhdev of Deutsche Bank. The update suggests that an agreement on funding for forests is a priority for governments attending the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Fifteen percent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions are being sequestered by forests every year, making them the mitigation engine of the natural world, highlights a press release by the German Ministry for the Environment.

Investing in ecosystem-based measures such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) has been identified as an effective means to combat climate change and a key anti-poverty and adaptation measure. Forests also provide services such as freshwater, soil stabilization, nutrients for agriculture, eco-tourism opportunities, and food, fuel, and fibre, all of which are key to buffering vulnerable communities against climate change.

The TEEB initiative is urging governments to factor these benefits into a forest carbon finance package in order to maximize the return of an agreement in Copenhagen. “This might pave the way for a new economy in the 21st century where natural or nature-based assets become part of mainstream economic and policy planning,” notes the German Ministry for the Environment.

The TEEB findings indicate that investing in the Earth’s ecological infrastructure offers 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.

“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,” notes the German Minister for the Environment.

Film documents Watertown development along Charles River...

Ashley Hunt produced this documentary about our local community in association with the Watertown Community Access Center. The program probes the history of the so-called Pleasant Street Corridor and the contentious issues confronting recent rezoning efforts.

The 30 minute film, 'Pleasant Street Corridor District: Fulfilling the Promise of its Name,' features interviews with Watertown civic leaders, concerned citizens, and business owners about this unique stretch of town that is adjacent to the Charles River.

Destruction/Development: The Wealth of Natural Capital…

The IREX Alternative Media Project organized a two-day seminar at American University of Armenia on “Advanced Coverage of Environmental Issues” for 14 journalists from various regions of Armenia.

The program was led by Leah Kohlenberg and included presentations on Bird Conservation Studies by Karen Aghababyan (Acopian Center for Conservation Learning), Trash and Recycling by Lilik Simonyan (Women for Health and Healthy Environment), Tree Planting Programs by Bella Avetisyan (Armenia Tree Project), National Parks by Siranush Galstyan and Artur Khoyetsyan (World Wildlife Fund).

The second day featured presentations on Wildflowers by Anna Asatryan (Institute of Botany), Deforestation by Hovik Sayadyan (State Agrarian University), and Trash and Recycling by Helmut Bernt (GTZ). The International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) is an international organization providing programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, and foster civil society.

IREX will coordinate the work of the journalists to publish a regional supplement related to the issues presented at the seminar in time for World Environment Day in June. I was invited to discuss the topic of Sustainable Development and “The Wealth of Natural Capital,” and the following is an overview of the concepts presented.

The benefits people obtain from ecosystems include provisioning services such as food, water, and timber; regulating services that affect climate, floods, and water quality; cultural services that provide recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits; and supporting services such as soil formation, carbon sequestration, and nutrient cycling. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment concluded that non-market ecosystem benefits are often more valuable than market benefits. “The value of managing ecosystems sustainably is often higher than the value associated with the conversion of the ecosystem through farming, logging, or other intensive uses,” noted the influential report.

In addition, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study led by Deutsche Bank managing director Pavan Sukhdev has shown that the value of environmental services lost every year is greater in magnitude than the current global financial crisis. “Whereas Wall Street by various calculations has to date lost, within the financial sector, $1-1.5 trillion, the reality is that at today’s rate we are losing natural capital [from global deforestation] at least between $2-5 trillion every year,” noted Sukhdev on the sidelines of the IUCN Congress in Oct. 2008.

I presented case studies that demonstrate the economic value of environmental services, as examples that could be replicated by professional, industry, and public sector experts in Armenia. First, the Catskills watershed provides drinking water to New York and is the largest US surface water supply that is not mechanically filtered. In 1989, city officials were faced with an EPA order to build a filtration plant that might have cost $6-8 billion, and instead the city allocated $1.5 billion to create buffers of undeveloped land around the reservoirs, to let nature pay for its own conservation.

Second, a study by the Audubon Society and Gund Institute for Ecological Economics estimated that Massachusetts forests provide $2.9 million in environmental services each year. For example, conservation efforts protected forests around the Quabbin Reservoir, which provides 40 percent of the state’s drinking water. Because of the services provided by this forest buffer, taxpayers were exempted from financing a $750 million filtration plant. Third, a 1986 project analysis in the Philippines estimated that logging would generate gross revenues of $9.8 million over 10 years, while a corresponding increase in sedimentation would result in lost revenues of $8.1 million from fisheries and $19.3 million from tourism over same period. The results convinced the government to ban logging in the Bacuit Bay watershed and declare it a reserve.

“We cannot--and should not--put a brake on the legitimate aspirations of countries and individuals for economic development,” concluded The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study initiated by the European Commission. “However, it is essential to ensure that such development takes proper account of the real value of natural ecosystems. This is central to economic and environmental management.”

Update: The IREX Core Media Support Program media supplement, Protecting Armenia's Environment, was published in July 2009.

‘The Tree Lady’ honors Green Belt Movement…

This brief documentary about Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement was created by Will Levitt. It was the first place student winner in the My Hero film festival and was part of the National History Day competition in Washington.

“Though Wangari's message has been shared in many ways, most notably with her 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, I thought that it was important that I try and share her message in my own way. Through her work, Wangari is a hero to so many. She has stood up for countless issues: the environment, women's rights, just government, sustainable economies, international cooperation,” wrote Will on the My Hero website.

The 10 minute film describes the founding of the Green Belt Movement, when Wangari organized women to plant trees with the goal of improving their lives. She started by planting seven trees in her own backyard on World Environmental Day in 1977 and the project quickly expanded. Today, over 30 million trees have been planted with the Green Belt Movement and it has spread to 30 countries.

Will recounted meeting Wangari in 2006, when she was the guest of Boston's Urban Forest Coalition and also the subject of an article by the Armenia Tree Project leadership in the Boston Globe. “To meet her in person further displayed to me the importance of her work, but also made me grateful all the more for her work that has inspired so many,” Will noted.

Other Earthkeeper Heroes highlighted on the My Hero website include Alexandra Cousteau for her work to protect the world’s oceans, E.O. Wilson for his studies on human impacts on the planet, and Laurie David for her commitment to curb climate change.

Changing climate, changing coasts...

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and New England Aquarium brought together a group of climate experts, business leaders, policymakers, and marine biologists this month to discuss global climate change. The interdisciplinary group gathered at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston for Changing Climate, Changing Coasts, a symposium on the local impacts of climate change and the marine environment.

NEAQ President Bud Ris moderated the proceedings and authored an op ed on climate change earlier in the week. “With sea level now expected to rise about 1-2 feet by the end of this century, and much of that now irreversible, we will see dramatic changes in our coastline. The 100-year flood zone will move inland and what was previously a 100-year zone will become more like a 30 or 40 year zone,” he wrote in the Boston Globe. “The current estimates of sea-level rise are now believed to be fairly conservative.”

Daniel Schrag of Harvard's Center for the Environment noted that the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has not been higher than 300 parts per million in the past 650,000 years, but today is climbing higher than 385 ppm. He warned that scientific models may be underestimating the sensitivity of the earth to climate change, that scientists tend to underestimate risk when there is uncertainty, and that there is a tremendous amount of momentum in the global climate system.

Under a business as usual scenario, scientists are expecting atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to rise to 550 ppm, which will have tremendous impacts on climate and human life. In response, experts agree that all available solutions will be necessary including switching to less carbon intensive energy, carbon sequestration, and adaptation measures. Given the magnitude and urgency of the problem, Prof. Schrag proposed an emerging geo-engineering innovation as the best available solution. Acknowledging the risk of releasing aerosols into the atmosphere to deflect heat from the sun to prevent global warming, he described it as “the worst idea except for the alternative.”

Many of the presenters focused on the impacts of climate change on coastal New England and the marine environment, with many scenarios showing the New England Aquarium in Boston and other coastal areas impacted by anticipated sea level rise. The 2007 study initiated by Union of Concerned Scientists, Confronting Climate Change in the US Northeast: Science, Impacts, and Solutions, was widely cited along with estimates of the economic and environmental impacts of climate change.

Steps to be taken include revisiting zoning requirements and development regulations along the shoreline, bolstering waterfront property with seawalls, bringing insurance premiums in line with new levels of risk, and advancing alternative energy solutions. Many of the speakers emphasized that we can’t afford the costs of doing nothing when it comes to climate change.

Sustainable development and Armenia’s environment…

“The moral argument is that we have a duty to preserve irreplaceable gifts of creation, whereas we have no comparable duty toward transient commercial goods. The economic argument is that any society that depletes its natural capital is bound to become impoverished over time.”

I used this Peter Barnes quote from Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons to open an article about sustainable development for the special year-end magazine issue of the Armenian Weekly. The commentary gives an overview of environmental challenges in the Republic of Armenia caused primarily by the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources.

The copper smelter in Alaverdi poses a great risk to public health in Armenia (Photograph by Hawk Khatcherian)

A widely accepted definition of sustainable development is reviewed, along with an emphasis on the economic value of environmental services provided by forests. The following are some of the key conclusions: The protection of agricultural lands from loss of topsoil caused by deforestation and erosion must be prevented, especially given Armenia’s finite resources and geographic isolation.

Strategic decisions and actions taken today can prevent potential resource conflicts both within Armenia and with Armenia’s neighbors. And finally, sustainability must be an integral part of any national development strategy, and by definition it must address economic, environmental, and social factors.

In response to the urgency of the situation, there are signs of progress. I cite ATP's backyard nursery micro-enterprise program, which was selected as a National Winner of the Energy Globe Award for Sustainability at the European Parliament in Brussels, and the United Nations Global Compact which been operating in Armenia since 2006 and has enlisted more than 30 business and organizations committed to aligning their operations with universally accepted principles in the areas of environmental protection and social issues.

Henry Fair’s Industrial Scars…

I first came across the captivating work of J Henry Fair in Harper’s, which ran several of his large landscape photographs of industrial waste sites. Since then I have acquired two posters from his Industrial Scars exhibitions in Italy, Germany, and Singapore. The oversized color shots depict bauxite waste from an aluminum oxide refinery and waste from the processing of phosphate fertilizer.

Conveyor and bucket-wheel excavator digging in the top layer
of earth and coal (Photograph by J Henry Fair courtesy of www.industrialscars.com)

In a description of the photographs, he points out that heavy metals from the production of aluminum are pumped into vast storage areas where it is blown by the wind and covers everything nearby with contaminants, while the production of phosphate fertilizer creates acidic and radioactive waste that leeches into groundwater.

“I see our culture as being addicted to petroleum and the unsustainable consumption of other natural resources, which seems to portend a future of scarcity. My vision is of a different possibility, arrived at through careful husbandry of resources and adjustment of our desires and consumption patterns toward a future of health and plenty,” notes the artist in a statement of purpose.

“Over time, I began to photograph all these things with an eye to making them both beautiful and frightening simultaneously, a seemingly irreconcilable mission, but actually quite achievable given the subject matter,” writes J Henry Fair.

Industrial Scars is being shown in galleries in Berlin, Bochum, Essen, and Stuttgart, and he is currently working on a series of coal mining photographs from the United States and abroad. The New York-based artist has started Soapbox Henry to document his travels.