Payment for ecosystem services

The document proposes a “Global Green New Deal” emulating Roosevelt’s New Deal (1930) to overcome the current global recession and secure a long-term economic recovery. The main argument is that economic stability and poverty alleviation cannot be achieved without considering and investing in the preservation of environmental resources. The report notes that the current global economic recession has caused a decline in the global per capita income contracts with millions of people consigned to poverty.

Despite the adoption of many international agreements over the last decades, degradation of forests and deforestation has continued. Since this is largely due to the market's failure to account for forests' multifunctionality, this issue argues that a new, holistic approach is necessary to ensure sustainable forest management (SFM) is adequately supported and financed. Against this background, 35 articles explore the role of:

Almost one quarter of China will be covered in forest by 2020 if the country succeeds in its mission towards building an “eco-civilization”, a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) finds.

The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the first universally binding climate change agreement signed last year in Paris have renewed hopes that the world can shift to a low-carbon economy that uses natural resources more efficiently and fosters green economic growth.

The need to address sustained economic growth while simultaneously preserving the natural environment presents important policy challenges for countries such as South Africa. Growing concerns about climate change, a loss of biodiversity, and the poor management of natural resources such as forests and water all indicate that the benefits of growth – and its ability to deliver social well-being – must be increasingly considered in light of environmental costs.

This briefing note has been produced Forests and Climate Change Programme (FORCLIME), which is bilateral initiative implemented jointly by Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry. It outlines the concept of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and makes the case for the use of PES on Borneo island.

Agriculture has been previously neglected by climate negotiators and policymakers, but this is changing due to an increasing understanding of the links between climate change and agriculture. This report presents policies and interventions aimed at harnessing the potential of climate finance to support a transition towards a more sustainable agriculture for the benefit of smallholder farmers.According to the report, sustainable agriculture that contributes to development and food security needs to: