Buyer, Regulator, and Enabler: The Government's Role in Ecosystem Services Markets

Buyer, Regulator, and Enabler: The Government's Role in Ecosystem Services Markets

Author: Sara J. Scherr

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2011-07-01

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13: 9290923539

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This paper was originally produced for the "International Conference on Payments for Environmental Services," held in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China on 6-7 September 2009, and jointly hosted by the People's Republic of China's National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It is part of the full volume of conference proceedings published by ADB in December 2010, entitled "Payments for Ecological Services and Eco-Compensation: Practices and Innovations in the People's Republic of China".


Book Synopsis Buyer, Regulator, and Enabler: The Government's Role in Ecosystem Services Markets by : Sara J. Scherr

Download or read book Buyer, Regulator, and Enabler: The Government's Role in Ecosystem Services Markets written by Sara J. Scherr and published by Asian Development Bank. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper was originally produced for the "International Conference on Payments for Environmental Services," held in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China on 6-7 September 2009, and jointly hosted by the People's Republic of China's National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It is part of the full volume of conference proceedings published by ADB in December 2010, entitled "Payments for Ecological Services and Eco-Compensation: Practices and Innovations in the People's Republic of China".


ADB Accountability Mechanism

ADB Accountability Mechanism

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2013-04-01

Total Pages: 521

ISBN-13: 929092201X

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The new Accountability Mechanism became effective on 24 May 2012 after a full-scale review of the 2003 version. The review resulted in clearer and closer collaboration between the functions of problem solving—handled by the Office of the Special Project Facilitator (OSPF)—and those of compliance review by the Office of the Compliance Review Panel (OCRP). This report marks the first joint Accountability Mechanism Annual Report of the OSPF and OCRP in the spirit of promoting synergy in the new Accountability Mechanism. It outlines complaint-related activities of the OSPF and OCRP in 2012 and touches on its outreach and the information-sharing initiatives of the new Accountability Mechanism. Background ADB's Accountability Mechanism allows persons affected by ADB-assisted projects to submit complaints about harm resulting from those projects. It is guided by the principles of: responsiveness to project-affected persons’ concerns; fairness to all stakeholders; independence and transparency; cost effectiveness and efficiency; and complementing other ADB systems (including supervision, audit, and quality control).


Book Synopsis ADB Accountability Mechanism by : Asian Development Bank

Download or read book ADB Accountability Mechanism written by Asian Development Bank and published by Asian Development Bank. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The new Accountability Mechanism became effective on 24 May 2012 after a full-scale review of the 2003 version. The review resulted in clearer and closer collaboration between the functions of problem solving—handled by the Office of the Special Project Facilitator (OSPF)—and those of compliance review by the Office of the Compliance Review Panel (OCRP). This report marks the first joint Accountability Mechanism Annual Report of the OSPF and OCRP in the spirit of promoting synergy in the new Accountability Mechanism. It outlines complaint-related activities of the OSPF and OCRP in 2012 and touches on its outreach and the information-sharing initiatives of the new Accountability Mechanism. Background ADB's Accountability Mechanism allows persons affected by ADB-assisted projects to submit complaints about harm resulting from those projects. It is guided by the principles of: responsiveness to project-affected persons’ concerns; fairness to all stakeholders; independence and transparency; cost effectiveness and efficiency; and complementing other ADB systems (including supervision, audit, and quality control).


An Eco-Compensation Policy Framework for the People's Republic of China

An Eco-Compensation Policy Framework for the People's Republic of China

Author: Qingfeng Zhang

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2010-10-01

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 9290921366

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Economic growth has multiplied the environmental challenges faced by the People's Republic of China but has also created opportunities, by increasing available funding for environmental management and conservation. At the nexus of these countervailing trends, policy makers have been experimenting with new approaches to environmental management under the broad heading of "eco-compensation". Many of these are market-based, particularly payments for ecosystem services; an emerging policy debate is regarding the extent to which beneficiaries should pay, and the providers should be compensated, for the provision of natural resources and environmental services to promote sustainable, balanced growth. This paper synthesizes the findings of the International Conference on Payments for Ecological Services convened in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in September 2009 to support eco-compensation programs in the country.


Book Synopsis An Eco-Compensation Policy Framework for the People's Republic of China by : Qingfeng Zhang

Download or read book An Eco-Compensation Policy Framework for the People's Republic of China written by Qingfeng Zhang and published by Asian Development Bank. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economic growth has multiplied the environmental challenges faced by the People's Republic of China but has also created opportunities, by increasing available funding for environmental management and conservation. At the nexus of these countervailing trends, policy makers have been experimenting with new approaches to environmental management under the broad heading of "eco-compensation". Many of these are market-based, particularly payments for ecosystem services; an emerging policy debate is regarding the extent to which beneficiaries should pay, and the providers should be compensated, for the provision of natural resources and environmental services to promote sustainable, balanced growth. This paper synthesizes the findings of the International Conference on Payments for Ecological Services convened in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in September 2009 to support eco-compensation programs in the country.


The Creation of Markets for Ecosystem Services in the United States

The Creation of Markets for Ecosystem Services in the United States

Author: Mattijs van Maasakkers

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2016-11-01

Total Pages: 127

ISBN-13: 1783086041

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The Creation of Markets for Ecosystem Services in the United States is a detailed analysis of the most advanced efforts to create markets for ecosystem services in the United States. With the help of in-depth case studies of three well-known attempts to create such markets––in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Ohio River basin and the Willamette River basin––the book explains why very few of these markets have actually succeeded even after close to two decades of much scholarly enthusiasm, significant federal funding and concerted efforts by NGOs, government agencies and private businesses. Based on interviews, policy analysis and participatory observation, three features of markets for ecosystem services emerge as particularly problematic. First, the logic of displacement or the idea that particular elements of an ecosystem can be separated and traded across landscapes or watersheds runs counter to political interests, environmental beliefs and people's connections to specific places. The second problem is that of measurement. Quantification methods embed a range of often contentious assumptions and decisions about what counts when restoring ecosystems. The third problem is related to participation in environmental decision-making.


Book Synopsis The Creation of Markets for Ecosystem Services in the United States by : Mattijs van Maasakkers

Download or read book The Creation of Markets for Ecosystem Services in the United States written by Mattijs van Maasakkers and published by Anthem Press. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Creation of Markets for Ecosystem Services in the United States is a detailed analysis of the most advanced efforts to create markets for ecosystem services in the United States. With the help of in-depth case studies of three well-known attempts to create such markets––in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Ohio River basin and the Willamette River basin––the book explains why very few of these markets have actually succeeded even after close to two decades of much scholarly enthusiasm, significant federal funding and concerted efforts by NGOs, government agencies and private businesses. Based on interviews, policy analysis and participatory observation, three features of markets for ecosystem services emerge as particularly problematic. First, the logic of displacement or the idea that particular elements of an ecosystem can be separated and traded across landscapes or watersheds runs counter to political interests, environmental beliefs and people's connections to specific places. The second problem is that of measurement. Quantification methods embed a range of often contentious assumptions and decisions about what counts when restoring ecosystems. The third problem is related to participation in environmental decision-making.


Legal Rights for Rivers

Legal Rights for Rivers

Author: Erin O'Donnell

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-10-17

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0429889607

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In 2017 four rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand, India, and Colombia were given the status of legal persons, and there was a recent attempt to extend these rights to the Colorado River in the USA. Understanding the implications of creating legal rights for rivers is an urgent challenge for both water resource management and environmental law. Giving rivers legal rights means the law can see rivers as legal persons, thus creating new legal rights which can then be enforced. When rivers are legally people, does that encourage collaboration and partnership between humans and rivers, or establish rivers as another competitor for scarce resources? To assess what it means to give rivers legal rights and legal personality, this book examines the form and function of environmental water managers (EWMs). These organisations have legal personality, and have been active in water resource management for over two decades. EWMs operate by acquiring water rights from irrigators in rivers where there is insufficient water to maintain ecological health. EWMs can compete with farmers for access to water, but they can also strengthen collaboration between traditionally divergent users of the aquatic environment, such as environmentalists, recreational fishers, hunters, farmers, and hydropower. This book explores how EWMs use the opportunities created by giving nature legal rights, such as the ability to participate in markets, enter contracts, hold property, and enforce those rights in court. However, examination of the EWMs unearths a crucial and unexpected paradox: giving legal rights to nature may increase its legal power, but in doing so it can weaken community support for protecting the environment in the first place. The book develops a new conceptual framework to identify the multiple constructions of the environment in law, and how these constructions can interact to generate these unexpected outcomes. It explores EWMs in the USA and Australia as examples, and assesses the implications of creating legal rights for rivers for water governance. Lessons from the EWMs, as well as early lessons from the new ‘river persons,’ show how to use the law to improve river protection and how to begin to mitigate the problems of the paradox.


Book Synopsis Legal Rights for Rivers by : Erin O'Donnell

Download or read book Legal Rights for Rivers written by Erin O'Donnell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-17 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2017 four rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand, India, and Colombia were given the status of legal persons, and there was a recent attempt to extend these rights to the Colorado River in the USA. Understanding the implications of creating legal rights for rivers is an urgent challenge for both water resource management and environmental law. Giving rivers legal rights means the law can see rivers as legal persons, thus creating new legal rights which can then be enforced. When rivers are legally people, does that encourage collaboration and partnership between humans and rivers, or establish rivers as another competitor for scarce resources? To assess what it means to give rivers legal rights and legal personality, this book examines the form and function of environmental water managers (EWMs). These organisations have legal personality, and have been active in water resource management for over two decades. EWMs operate by acquiring water rights from irrigators in rivers where there is insufficient water to maintain ecological health. EWMs can compete with farmers for access to water, but they can also strengthen collaboration between traditionally divergent users of the aquatic environment, such as environmentalists, recreational fishers, hunters, farmers, and hydropower. This book explores how EWMs use the opportunities created by giving nature legal rights, such as the ability to participate in markets, enter contracts, hold property, and enforce those rights in court. However, examination of the EWMs unearths a crucial and unexpected paradox: giving legal rights to nature may increase its legal power, but in doing so it can weaken community support for protecting the environment in the first place. The book develops a new conceptual framework to identify the multiple constructions of the environment in law, and how these constructions can interact to generate these unexpected outcomes. It explores EWMs in the USA and Australia as examples, and assesses the implications of creating legal rights for rivers for water governance. Lessons from the EWMs, as well as early lessons from the new ‘river persons,’ show how to use the law to improve river protection and how to begin to mitigate the problems of the paradox.


Private sector landscape in mixed health systems

Private sector landscape in mixed health systems

Author:

Publisher: World Health Organization

Published: 2020-07-20

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 9240018301

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Book Synopsis Private sector landscape in mixed health systems by :

Download or read book Private sector landscape in mixed health systems written by and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2020-07-20 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Social Impact Investing

Social Impact Investing

Author: Stewart Jones

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2021-12-23

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 1000530213

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Social impact investing is gaining ground as one of the most important investment trends in the world. While the size of the social impact investing market is still relatively small in global terms, momentum continues to grow unabated. Australia in particular is looking to develop a vibrant and transparent social impact investment market. This book considers a number of innovative strategies and pragmatic policy initiatives that can see the social impact investment market flourish in Australia and internationally. The book describes how social impact investing can enter the investment mainstream and how a high-quality regulatory framework governing the measurement, reporting and evaluation of social impact will be critical to building investor confidence and ensuring the credibility, effectiveness and transparency of this market. It also examines different approaches to measurement and evaluation that will ultimately be critical to the success of this market. The authors also recognise that governments have a pivotal role to play in growing the social impact investing market, not only in its capacity as a market facilitator and regulator but also as an active purchaser of social outcomes. This book will be informative for those who wish to learn more about how governments, private investors, investment intermediaries, social enterprises, service providers and other market participants around the world can work together to initiate and grow a vibrant, transparent and well-functioning social impact investing market.


Book Synopsis Social Impact Investing by : Stewart Jones

Download or read book Social Impact Investing written by Stewart Jones and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2021-12-23 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social impact investing is gaining ground as one of the most important investment trends in the world. While the size of the social impact investing market is still relatively small in global terms, momentum continues to grow unabated. Australia in particular is looking to develop a vibrant and transparent social impact investment market. This book considers a number of innovative strategies and pragmatic policy initiatives that can see the social impact investment market flourish in Australia and internationally. The book describes how social impact investing can enter the investment mainstream and how a high-quality regulatory framework governing the measurement, reporting and evaluation of social impact will be critical to building investor confidence and ensuring the credibility, effectiveness and transparency of this market. It also examines different approaches to measurement and evaluation that will ultimately be critical to the success of this market. The authors also recognise that governments have a pivotal role to play in growing the social impact investing market, not only in its capacity as a market facilitator and regulator but also as an active purchaser of social outcomes. This book will be informative for those who wish to learn more about how governments, private investors, investment intermediaries, social enterprises, service providers and other market participants around the world can work together to initiate and grow a vibrant, transparent and well-functioning social impact investing market.


Creating Markets for Ecosystem Services

Creating Markets for Ecosystem Services

Author: Greg Murtough

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 76

ISBN-13:

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Ecosystem services are the functions performed by ecosystems that lead to desirable environmental outcomes, such as air and water purification, drought and flood mitigation, and climate stabilisation. Markets rarely exist for them. This study examines how newly defined property rights have been used to create markets in Australia and the United States. The Commission found that creating these markets - such as tradeable credits for carbon sequestration - can be an effective way for governments to achieve their environmental goals.


Book Synopsis Creating Markets for Ecosystem Services by : Greg Murtough

Download or read book Creating Markets for Ecosystem Services written by Greg Murtough and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecosystem services are the functions performed by ecosystems that lead to desirable environmental outcomes, such as air and water purification, drought and flood mitigation, and climate stabilisation. Markets rarely exist for them. This study examines how newly defined property rights have been used to create markets in Australia and the United States. The Commission found that creating these markets - such as tradeable credits for carbon sequestration - can be an effective way for governments to achieve their environmental goals.


Sustainable Transport

Sustainable Transport

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1996-01-01

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 9780821335987

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"This publication elaborates on how the specific characteristics of the different transport subsectors affect the potential for expanding the role of competitive markets. It defines the principal challenges currently faced by the transport sector as a whole as: (i) the completion of basic infrastructure networks and (ii) the provision of adequate maintenance for them. Future challenges may include: (i) increasing responsiveness to customer needs, (ii) adjusting to global trade patterns, and (iii) coping with rapid motorization. These challenges highlight the need to reform institutional and transport policy in order to support a better quality of life on a sustained basis. This book identifies some generally applicable principles and best practices as the foundation of a policy for more sustainable transport. Economic and financial sustainability requires that resources be used efficiently and that assets be maintained properly. Environmental and ecological sustainability requires that the external effects of transport be taken into account fully when public or private decisions are made that determine future development. Social sustainability requires that the benefits of improved transport reach all sections of the community. It is necessary to redefine the role of governments in the transport sector--the focus in transport policy must shift toward a market-based approach with the private sector taking on more of the responsibility for providing, operating, and financing transport services and infrastructure. The role of the government would therefore decline, but its importance as the enabler of competition and the custodian of environmental and social interests would increase. The World Bank Group's role will be to focus on institutional and policy reform; it can help governments fulfill their enabling and supervisory role in a freer transport market through more selective and focused technical assistance for building the capacity and skills needed by the public sector." -- Website.


Book Synopsis Sustainable Transport by :

Download or read book Sustainable Transport written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1996-01-01 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This publication elaborates on how the specific characteristics of the different transport subsectors affect the potential for expanding the role of competitive markets. It defines the principal challenges currently faced by the transport sector as a whole as: (i) the completion of basic infrastructure networks and (ii) the provision of adequate maintenance for them. Future challenges may include: (i) increasing responsiveness to customer needs, (ii) adjusting to global trade patterns, and (iii) coping with rapid motorization. These challenges highlight the need to reform institutional and transport policy in order to support a better quality of life on a sustained basis. This book identifies some generally applicable principles and best practices as the foundation of a policy for more sustainable transport. Economic and financial sustainability requires that resources be used efficiently and that assets be maintained properly. Environmental and ecological sustainability requires that the external effects of transport be taken into account fully when public or private decisions are made that determine future development. Social sustainability requires that the benefits of improved transport reach all sections of the community. It is necessary to redefine the role of governments in the transport sector--the focus in transport policy must shift toward a market-based approach with the private sector taking on more of the responsibility for providing, operating, and financing transport services and infrastructure. The role of the government would therefore decline, but its importance as the enabler of competition and the custodian of environmental and social interests would increase. The World Bank Group's role will be to focus on institutional and policy reform; it can help governments fulfill their enabling and supervisory role in a freer transport market through more selective and focused technical assistance for building the capacity and skills needed by the public sector." -- Website.


Developing the Regulatory Environment for Competitive Agricultural Markets

Developing the Regulatory Environment for Competitive Agricultural Markets

Author: Lowell D. Hill

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 9780821331156

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World Bank Technical Paper No. 266. Critiques both beneficial and detrimental government regulations that affect commodity markets in developing countries. Commodity markets require a regulatory environment that encourages private enterprise


Book Synopsis Developing the Regulatory Environment for Competitive Agricultural Markets by : Lowell D. Hill

Download or read book Developing the Regulatory Environment for Competitive Agricultural Markets written by Lowell D. Hill and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1995 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World Bank Technical Paper No. 266. Critiques both beneficial and detrimental government regulations that affect commodity markets in developing countries. Commodity markets require a regulatory environment that encourages private enterprise