Proceedings of the workshop on Healthy Oceans, People and Economies: How important is biodiversity financing? (EASC2018 Session 6 Workshop 3)
PUBLICATION DATE:
Friday, November 30, 2018
PUBLICATION TYPE:
Meeting Documents
STATUS:
Only Available Online
DESCRIPTION:
Challenges confronting the oceans and coastal ecosystems are compounding in time. Modest gains in addressing anthropogenic threats through protection measures and informed policies are negated by the vagaries of climate and emerging and worrisome patterns of utilization such as reclamation and land development. By reflecting the value of ecosystems into monetary units, stakeholders are propelled to make better decisions on resource allocation between competing uses, improving incentives and generating expenditures. While the context focuses on coral reef management, it is critical to see how it contributes to the broader coastal management perspective.
Why talk about financing? Significant funding is required to address threats posed by illegal fishing, reclamation, pollution, harvesting of corals and associated species, unbridled land development, etc. Third, due to the severe rate of destruction, coral restoration procedures will cost more, in fact, more than what it would cost to prevent the destruction. Relevant discussions on financing are not focused solely on raising revenues or ensuring more funding. Cost avoidance and delivering better are also finance solutions benefitting coral reef management. Likewise, realignment of expenditures from harmful actions to positive actions are also highlighted as finance solutions.
The mini symposium organized by the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) is intended to inform participants of the methodology, which includes three assessments that culminate in a Biodiversity Finance Plan. The steps include:
- The Biodiversity Finance Policy and Institutional Review (PIR) looks into the policy and institutional context for biodiversity finance in the country and establishes which are the key stakeholders to involve.
- The Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER) is an analysis of public and private expenditures in the country that benefit biodiversity. The assessment establishes past, present and projected expenditures on biodiversity.
- The Financial Needs Assessment (FNA) estimates the finance required to deliver national biodiversity targets and plans, usually described in the NBSAPs.
- The Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP) identify and prioritizes a mix of suitable biodiversity finance solutions to reduce the biodiversity finance gap.
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