Details
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 509-521 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | LAND USE POLICY |
Volume | 38 |
Early online date | 15 Jan 2014 |
Publication status | Published - May 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
The ecosystem services (ES) framework reveals ecosystems' benefits to society and presents a fundamental natural resource management approach. In the last several decades, it has gained increasing attention from the research community, and it recently reached the political agenda. However, does the concept have the capacity to cause institutional change in environmental policy? To answer this question, we developed certain criteria for an "ideal" ES-driven policy. Based on these criteria, we analyzed the main water and biodiversity acts, current policy developments, and future trends within the US and the EU. Our analysis shows that most acts cannot be explicitly characterized as ES-driven policies, but parts of the concept are already included. The ES framework, increasingly a driver in several policy fields, can be assumed to be a major future influence for shaping existing environmental policies in the coming decades. We discussed the results based on its strengths for existing environmental policy conceptually, e.g., cross-sector cooperation and ES win-win and trade-off considerations, and its weaknesses operationally, such as measurability and governance changes.
Keywords
- Cross-sector cooperation, Ecosystem capacity, Environmental law, Financial incentive instruments, Institutional change, Trade-offs
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Forestry
- Social Sciences(all)
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Environmental Science(all)
- Nature and Landscape Conservation
- Environmental Science(all)
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
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In: LAND USE POLICY, Vol. 38, 05.2014, p. 509-521.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The relevance of the ecosystem services framework for developed countries' environmental policies
T2 - A comparative case study of the US and EU
AU - Matzdorf, Bettina
AU - Meyer, Claas
N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the Social-ecological Research (SÖF) program, contract no. [01UU0911]. Funding Information: The TEEB study was endorsed by G8+5 leaders at the Heiligendamm Summit on 6–8 June 2007, hosted by UNEP with financial support from the European Commission, Germany, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Japan ( http://www.teebweb.org/ ).
PY - 2014/5
Y1 - 2014/5
N2 - The ecosystem services (ES) framework reveals ecosystems' benefits to society and presents a fundamental natural resource management approach. In the last several decades, it has gained increasing attention from the research community, and it recently reached the political agenda. However, does the concept have the capacity to cause institutional change in environmental policy? To answer this question, we developed certain criteria for an "ideal" ES-driven policy. Based on these criteria, we analyzed the main water and biodiversity acts, current policy developments, and future trends within the US and the EU. Our analysis shows that most acts cannot be explicitly characterized as ES-driven policies, but parts of the concept are already included. The ES framework, increasingly a driver in several policy fields, can be assumed to be a major future influence for shaping existing environmental policies in the coming decades. We discussed the results based on its strengths for existing environmental policy conceptually, e.g., cross-sector cooperation and ES win-win and trade-off considerations, and its weaknesses operationally, such as measurability and governance changes.
AB - The ecosystem services (ES) framework reveals ecosystems' benefits to society and presents a fundamental natural resource management approach. In the last several decades, it has gained increasing attention from the research community, and it recently reached the political agenda. However, does the concept have the capacity to cause institutional change in environmental policy? To answer this question, we developed certain criteria for an "ideal" ES-driven policy. Based on these criteria, we analyzed the main water and biodiversity acts, current policy developments, and future trends within the US and the EU. Our analysis shows that most acts cannot be explicitly characterized as ES-driven policies, but parts of the concept are already included. The ES framework, increasingly a driver in several policy fields, can be assumed to be a major future influence for shaping existing environmental policies in the coming decades. We discussed the results based on its strengths for existing environmental policy conceptually, e.g., cross-sector cooperation and ES win-win and trade-off considerations, and its weaknesses operationally, such as measurability and governance changes.
KW - Cross-sector cooperation
KW - Ecosystem capacity
KW - Environmental law
KW - Financial incentive instruments
KW - Institutional change
KW - Trade-offs
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84892499841&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.12.011
DO - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.12.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84892499841
VL - 38
SP - 509
EP - 521
JO - LAND USE POLICY
JF - LAND USE POLICY
SN - 0264-8377
ER -