Investment in ecosystems key to adaptation

Marcela Valente in IPS: Investing in the sustainable management of ecosystems and curbing environmental degradation greatly improves the capacity of nations to adapt to climate change, according to a study carried out in 16 countries by two environmental organisations.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Argentine Wildlife Foundation (FVSA) presented a report Thursday in Buenos Aires which states that conservation and sustainable management of ecosystems are essential for adaptation to global warming.

The most conservative estimates indicate that 63 billion dollars a year are needed to protect the environmental services such ecosystems provide for humanity. A partial costing of the services themselves valued them at 33 trillion dollars a year, according to a research paper in the scientific journal Nature.

In the run-up to the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 15), to be held Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen, Diego Moreno, head of FVSA, emphasised that "effective environmental management should be an essential part of adaptation strategies."

He was speaking before the presentation of the study, titled "Nuevos Paradigmas para Financiamiento, Desarrollo y Naturaleza. Casos de Adaptación para Responder a los Impactos del Cambio Climático" (New Paradigms for Funding, Development and Nature: Cases of Adaptation in Response to the Impact of Climate Change), which will be launched at the COP 15 summit. The study examines 16 cases of adaptation on the five continents, covering a total area that includes 10 percent of the world population, currently estimated at over 6.8 billion people….

Johann Elias Ridinger (1698-1767): Schöpfung (Creation), 18th c.