Billions of people, especially the rural poor, still lack access
to nutritious food, clean water, sanitation, electricity or a healthy
environment. Disenfranchised groups lack empowerment, opportunity and security:
this is evidenced by the inequitable distribution of benefits from
globalization; the limited access which many poor people have to productive
resources and technological innovation; and the exclusionary land tenure
arrangements found in many countries. Environmental degradation at the local
(e.g. water pollution) and regional (e.g. land degradation) scales continues
unabated in most developing countries – depleting natural capital, undermining
the livelihoods of the poor, and limiting rural economic growth. And, at the
global scale, the Earth’s climate continues to change, and biological diversity
is being lost at an unprecedented rate, undermining the ecological basis for
sustainable development.
Progress towards sustainable development depends upon better
managing the Earth’s ecosystems. These affect human well-being directly through
supplying such goods as food, timber, genetic resources and medicines, and such
services as water purification, flood control, coastline stabilization, carbon
sequestration, waste treatment, biodiversity conservation, soil generation,
pollination, maintenance of air quality, and the provision of aesthetic and
cultural benefits. And they affect it indirectly through impacts on poverty,
health, livelihoods, security and economic development.
Human impact
The magnitude of human-induced changes in terrestrial and marine ecosystems is unprecedented. Some 40 to 50 per cent of land is now transformed or degraded. Some 60 per cent of the world’s major fisheries are overfished. Natural forests continue to disappear at a rate of about 14 million hectares each year. And other ecosystems such as wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs have been substantially reduced or degraded. Other human-induced impacts on ecosystems include alteration of the nitrogen and carbon cycles causing acid rain, eutrophication, climate change and increased rates of species extinction. All these changes have had significant, but largely unquantified, impacts on the production of ecosystem goods and services.
Human impact
The magnitude of human-induced changes in terrestrial and marine ecosystems is unprecedented. Some 40 to 50 per cent of land is now transformed or degraded. Some 60 per cent of the world’s major fisheries are overfished. Natural forests continue to disappear at a rate of about 14 million hectares each year. And other ecosystems such as wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs have been substantially reduced or degraded. Other human-induced impacts on ecosystems include alteration of the nitrogen and carbon cycles causing acid rain, eutrophication, climate change and increased rates of species extinction. All these changes have had significant, but largely unquantified, impacts on the production of ecosystem goods and services.
Projected demographic changes and economic growth will lead to an
increasing demand for biological resources. This implies even greater impacts on
ecosystems and the goods and services that flow from them. Projections suggest,
for example, that an additional one third of global land cover will be
transformed over the next 100 years; world demand for cereals will double within
the next 25-50 years; demand for freshwater will increase to an equivalent of
more than 70 per cent of run-off: and demand for wood will double over the next
half-century.
It is now well
recognized that there is a trade-off among ecological goods and services. While
converting a forest to agriculture may increase food production, for example, it
may decrease the supply of clean water, timber, biodiversity or flood control –
which may be of equal or greater importance. An integrated approach to
agriculture, land use, and coastal and ocean management must be adopted to
encompass the differing ecological, economic, social, cultural and institutional
implications of sustainable use and conservation.
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As the capability of many ecosystems to provide essential goods
and services is being diminished, many governments are now beginning to
recognize the need for managing these basic life support systems more
effectively: this is particularly important as a tool for poverty alleviation.
The importance of managing ecosystems better is also recognized in the private
sector, both by industries dependent directly on biological resources (such as
timber, fishing or agricultural firms), and those that are not (e.g. extractive
industries such as mining). Companies increasingly recognize the importance of
being good ‘corporate citizens’ by focusing on the triple bottom line of
economic growth that is environmentally and socially sustainable.
Multi-scale assessment
The United Nations Secretary-General recognized the growing burden that degraded ecosystems are placing on human well-being and economic development in his Millennium Report to the United Nations General Assembly, and said:
Multi-scale assessment
The United Nations Secretary-General recognized the growing burden that degraded ecosystems are placing on human well-being and economic development in his Millennium Report to the United Nations General Assembly, and said:
‘It is impossible to devise effective environmental policy
unless it is based on sound scientific information. While major advances in data
collection have been made in many areas, large gaps in our knowledge remain. In
particular, there has never been a comprehensive global assessment of the
world’s major ecosystems. The planned Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a major
international collaborative effort to map the health of our planet, is a
response to this need.’
The Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is a multi-scale assessment: this means that it
comprises interlinked assessments conducted at different geographic scales,
ranging from local communities to the entire globe. It has been authorized by
the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification
and the Ramsar Wetlands Convention, and is carefully coordinated with other
international scientific assessments. It will also contribute directly to
decision-making needs at sub-national scales and within the private sector and
civil society.
The Assessment builds upon earlier sectoral and integrated
assessments and focuses on three issues: the current and historical trends in
ecosystems and their contribution to human well-being; options for conserving
ecosystems and increasing their contribution to human welfare; and future
scenarios for change in ecosystems and human well-being. Its ‘value added’ is in
its cross-sectoral and cross-scale analysis.
Three issues
The multi-scale framework is unique. Other global assessments have included strong regional analyses (e.g. the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), but the MA also incorporates formal assessments undertaken at the sub-global scale, with their own stakeholders, authorizing environment and user-driven process.
Three issues
The multi-scale framework is unique. Other global assessments have included strong regional analyses (e.g. the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), but the MA also incorporates formal assessments undertaken at the sub-global scale, with their own stakeholders, authorizing environment and user-driven process.
The MA has been structured to ensure that it meets the tests of
saliency, credibility, transparency, legitimacy and utility. It has been
designed to:
- meet high scientific and technical standards, including a rigorous and
transparent peer review process;
- be policy relevant but not policy prescriptive;
- be independent from political pressure, while responsive to user needs;
- include an open process for nominating and selecting experts ensuring
regional, disciplinary, gender and stakeholder balance, while seeking to expand
the community of experts conducting the assessment to include local and
traditional knowledge;
- ensure a balanced reporting of perspectives, identifying what is known and
unknown, including key uncertainties;
- embrace issues associated with risk assessment, management and
communication;
- be owned and authorized by all relevant stakeholders;
- include an effective strategy of outreach and communication of the process and results.
Major sponsors include the Global
Environment Facility, the United
Nations Foundation, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the World Bank, UNEP, and the Governments of Norway, China, Japan
and the United States.
The MA will contribute to increasing public awareness of the
impacts of ecosystem change on human well-being and of the steps needed to
address them; improved national and sub-national decisions concerning
ecosystems, human development and poverty alleviation; stronger business
strategies that promote ecosystem health and the sustained enterprises dependent
on it; and improved international and global cooperation in ecosystem management
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