Using gross ecosystem product (GEP) to value nature in decision making.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
; 117(25): 14593-14601, 2020 06 23.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32513694
ABSTRACT
Gross domestic product (GDP) summarizes a vast amount of economic information in a single monetary metric that is widely used by decision makers around the world. However, GDP fails to capture fully the contributions of nature to economic activity and human well-being. To address this critical omission, we develop a measure of gross ecosystem product (GEP) that summarizes the value of ecosystem services in a single monetary metric. We illustrate the measurement of GEP through an application to the Chinese province of Qinghai, showing that the approach is tractable using available data. Known as the "water tower of Asia," Qinghai is the source of the Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers, and indeed, we find that water-related ecosystem services make up nearly two-thirds of the value of GEP for Qinghai. Importantly most of these benefits accrue downstream. In Qinghai, GEP was greater than GDP in 2000 and three-fourths as large as GDP in 2015 as its market economy grew. Large-scale investment in restoration resulted in improvements in the flows of ecosystem services measured in GEP (127.5%) over this period. Going forward, China is using GEP in decision making in multiple ways, as part of a transformation to inclusive, green growth. This includes investing in conservation of ecosystem assets to secure provision of ecosystem services through transregional compensation payments.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ecossistema
/
Modelos Econômicos
/
Conservação dos Recursos Naturais
/
Tomada de Decisões
/
Desenvolvimento Sustentável
Tipo de estudo:
Health_economic_evaluation
/
Prognostic_studies
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article