The relevance of the ecosystem services framework for developed countries' environmental policies: A comparative case study of the US and EU

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Bettina Matzdorf
  • Claas Meyer

External Research Organisations

  • Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)509-521
Number of pages13
JournalLAND USE POLICY
Volume38
Early online date15 Jan 2014
Publication statusPublished - May 2014
Externally publishedYes

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

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The relevance of the ecosystem services framework for developed countries' environmental policies: A comparative case study of the US and EU. / Matzdorf, Bettina; Meyer, Claas.
In: LAND USE POLICY, Vol. 38, 05.2014, p. 509-521.

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