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Science for Environment Policy: Working with nature, for people
25.09.2013 |
Editorial
Ecosystems are essential to human life. They provide a diverse range of services, from clean water to the air we breathe, that are vital to our wellbeing. Furthermore, ecosystems can also help us face changing conditions in the future. As the impacts of climate change are now being felt across the globe, robust and flexible methods of both mitigation and adaption are increasingly necessary. Ecosystem-based mitigation and adaptation, through the protection of healthy ecosystems, make use of the multiple services such natural capital provides, to help stabilise the climate system and support societal adaptation.
The importance of protecting and restoring healthy ecosystems to safeguard the many services they provide is increasingly recognised in EU policy, and both the EU Adaptation Strategy1 and the strategy on Green Infrastructure: Enhancing Europe's Natural Capital2 highlight the cost effectiveness and multiple benefits of ecosystem-based strategies. The integration of climate and biodiversity policy can now help to meet the challenges of a changing climate while also ensuring protection of vital ecosystems.
This Thematic Issue from Science for Environment Policy brings together the latest research on how protection of ecosystems and the services they provide can form an important part of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The articles explore the different benefits of ecosystem-based approaches and consider the difficult question of how best to value them. They complement the articles published by Science for Environment Policy in the first volume of Ecosystem-based Adaptation earlier in 2013.
1) http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/adaptation/index_en.htm
2) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/
3)http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/37si.pdf
Dr. Pam Berry
Environmental Change Institute,
University of Oxford
Articles:
Does preservation of biodiversity also protect ecosystem services? - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si1.pdf
Ecosystem-based adaptation can support food security - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si2.pdf
Linking mitigation and adaptation could make forest projects more effective - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si3.pdf
Mangroves provide both climate change mitigation and adaptation services -http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si4.pdf
Constructing wetlands for multiple ecosystem services - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si5.pdf
Can ecosystems protect Europe's coastline? - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si6.pdf
Accuracy needed for economic valuations of ecosystem services - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si7.pdf
Green jobs created by restoring blue infrastructure - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si8.pdf
Market framework not appropriate for most ecosystem services - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/42si9.pdf
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