Examining equity: a multidimensional framework for assessing equity in payments for ecosystem services
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a systematic framework for the analysis of equity that can be used to examine how local equity is affected as the global value of ecosystem services changes, and how these dimensions are shaped by the scale and target group of concern, the framing of goals with respect to equity and how the decisions about the content, target and aims of equity are taken.
About: This article is published in Environmental Science & Policy.The article was published on 2013-11-01 and is currently open access. It has received 418 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Equity capital markets & Equity risk.
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TL;DR: It is shown how the equity impacts of PES can create positive and negative feedbacks that influence ecological outcomes, and cautioned against equity-blind PES, which overlooks these relationships as a result of a primary and narrow focus on economic efficiency.
Abstract: Although conservation efforts have sometimes succeeded in meeting environmental goals at the expense of equity considerations, the changing context of conservation and a growing body of evidence increasingly suggest that equity considerations should be integrated into conservation planning and implementation. However, this approach is often perceived to be at odds with the prevailing focus on economic efficiency that characterizes many payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes. Drawing from examples across the literature, we show how the equity impacts of PES can create positive and negative feedbacks that influence ecological outcomes. We caution against equity-blind PES, which overlooks these relationships as a result of a primary and narrow focus on economic efficiency. We call for further analysis and better engagement between the social and ecological science communities to understand the relationships and trade-offs among efficiency, equity, and ecological outcomes.
446 citations
TL;DR: The root cause analysis of vulnerability is absent from most climate response assessments as mentioned in this paper, while attributing some causal weight to proximate social variables, such as poverty or lack of capacity.
Abstract: Causal analysis of vulnerability aims to identify root causes of crises so that transformative solutions might be found. Yet root-cause analysis is absent from most climate response assessments. Framings for climate-change risk analysis often locate causality in hazards while attributing some causal weight to proximate social variables such as poverty or lack of capacity. They rarely ask why capacity is lacking, assets are inadequate or social protections are absent or fail. This contribution frames vulnerability and security as matters of access to assets and social protections. Assets and social protections each have their own context-contingent causal chains. A key recursive element in those causal chains is the ability – means and powers – of vulnerable people to influence the political economy that shapes their assets and social protections. Vulnerability is, as Sen rightly observed, linked to the lack of freedom – the freedom to influence the political economy that shapes these entitlements. In the ...
387 citations
Cites background from "Examining equity: a multidimensiona..."
...…analysts and agencies turning more and more toward ‘rightsbased’ approaches to natural resource management and climate change (Roberts and Parks 2007, McDermott et al. 2012, Walsh-Dilley et al. 2013), it is important to keep in mind that the fundamental right is the right to influence those who…...
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...Miller et al. (2010) places resilience into the ‘systems’ (meaning systems theory) camp and puts vulnerability with adaptation into an ‘actors’ category....
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TL;DR: An integrated ES modeling methodology, named ARIES (ARtificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services), which adopts a uniform conceptualization of ES that gives equal emphasis to their production, flow and use by society, while keeping model complexity low enough to enable rapid and inexpensive assessment in many contexts and for multiple services.
Abstract: Ecosystem Services (ES) are an established conceptual framework for attributing value to the benefits that nature provides to humans. As the promise of robust ES-driven management is put to the test, shortcomings in our ability to accurately measure, map, and value ES have surfaced. On the research side, mainstream methods for ES assessment still fall short of addressing the complex, multi-scale biophysical and socioeconomic dynamics inherent in ES provision, flow, and use. On the practitioner side, application of methods remains onerous due to data and model parameterization requirements. Further, it is increasingly clear that the dominant “one model fits all” paradigm is often ill-suited to address the diversity of real-world management situations that exist across the broad spectrum of coupled human-natural systems. This article introduces an integrated ES modeling methodology, named ARIES (ARtificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services), which aims to introduce improvements on these fronts. To improve conceptual detail and representation of ES dynamics, it adopts a uniform conceptualization of ES that gives equal emphasis to their production, flow and use by society, while keeping model complexity low enough to enable rapid and inexpensive assessment in many contexts and for multiple services. To improve fit to diverse application contexts, the methodology is assisted by model integration technologies that allow assembly of customized models from a growing model base. By using computer learning and reasoning, model structure may be specialized for each application context without requiring costly expertise. In this article we discuss the founding principles of ARIES - both its innovative aspects for ES science and as an example of a new strategy to support more accurate decision making in diverse application contexts.
347 citations
Cites background from "Examining equity: a multidimensiona..."
...Yet, the many facets of equity [81] and value [82] make the problem of case-study specific value attribution difficult to resolve in general....
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...Much as the biophysical science underlying ES provision demands careful contextualization while modeling, ES valuation cannot be trivialized with a simple definition and deserves case by case consideration within the comprehensive framework of equity [81]....
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01 Jan 2014
343 citations
Cites background from "Examining equity: a multidimensiona..."
...También existe una dimensión contextual a la equidad, afectada por las condiciones circundantes que influyen en la capacidad de los actores de participar y ganar reconocimiento y beneficios [96,97] o condiciones facilitadoras [98]....
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Lüneburg University1, Stockholm Environment Institute2, McGill University3, National Autonomous University of Mexico4, Stockholm University5, Stellenbosch University6, University of Wisconsin-Madison7, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences8, James Cook University9, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ10, VU University Amsterdam11, University of Bayreuth12
TL;DR: The concept of social-ecological systems is useful for understanding the interlinked dynamics of environmental and societal change as discussed by the authors, which has helped facilitate increased recognition of the dependence of humanity on ecosystems; improved collaboration across disciplines, and between science and society; increased methodological pluralism leading to improved systems understanding; and major policy frameworks considering socialecological interactions.
282 citations
References
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TL;DR: Young as mentioned in this paper argues that normative theory and public policy should undermine group-based oppression by affirming rather than suppressing social group difference, and argues for a principle of group representation in democratic publics and for group-differentiated policies.
Abstract: This book challenges the prevailing philosophical reduction of social justice to distributive justice. It critically analyzes basic concepts underlying most theories of justice, including impartiality, formal equality, and the unitary moral subjectivity. Starting from claims of excluded groups about decision making, cultural expression, and division of labor, Iris Young defines concepts of domination and oppression to cover issues eluding the distributive model. Democratic theorists, according to Young do not adequately address the problem of an inclusive participatory framework. By assuming a homogeneous public, they fail to consider institutional arrangements for including people not culturally identified with white European male norms of reason and respectability. Young urges that normative theory and public policy should undermine group-based oppression by affirming rather than suppressing social group difference. Basing her vision of the good society on the differentiated, culturally plural network of contemporary urban life, she argues for a principle of group representation in democratic publics and for group-differentiated policies. "This is an innovative work, an important contribution to feminist theory and political thought, and one of the most impressive statements of the relationship between postmodernist critiques of universalism and concrete thinking.... Iris Young makes the most convincing case I know of for the emancipatory implications of postmodernism." --Seyla Benhabib, State University of New York at Stony Brook
7,816 citations
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TL;DR: In Anarchy, State, and Utopia as discussed by the authors, Nozick argues that the state is justified only when it is severely limited to the narrow function of protection against force, theft and fraud and to the enforcement of contracts.
Abstract: Robert Nozicka s Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a powerful, philosophical challenge to the most widely held political and social positions of our age ---- liberal, socialist and conservative. "Individuals have rights," Nozick writes in his opening sentence, "and there are things no person or group may do to them without violating their rights." The work that follows is a sophisticated and passionate defence of the rights of the individual as opposed to the state. The author argues that the state is justified only when it is severely limited to the narrow function of protection against force, theft and fraud and to the enforcement of contracts. Any more extensive activities by the state, he demonstrates, will inevitably violate individual rights. Among the many achievements of the work are an important new theory of distributive justice, a model of utopia, and an integration of ethics, legal philosophy and economic theory into a profound position in political philosophy which will be discussed for years to come.
7,183 citations
"Examining equity: a multidimensiona..." refers background in this paper
...Libertarian systems emphasise liberty in terms of equality of individual rights and opportunities for all members of society, regardless of the consequences for their relative attainment of wealth, well-being or any other kind of utility (Nozick, 1974)....
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TL;DR: A general framework is used to identify 10 subsystem variables that affect the likelihood of self-organization in efforts to achieve a sustainable SES.
Abstract: A major problem worldwide is the potential loss of fisheries, forests, and water resources Understanding of the processes that lead to improvements in or deterioration of natural resources is limited, because scientific disciplines use different concepts and languages to describe and explain complex social-ecological systems (SESs) Without a common framework to organize findings, isolated knowledge does not cumulate Until recently, accepted theory has assumed that resource users will never self-organize to maintain their resources and that governments must impose solutions Research in multiple disciplines, however, has found that some government policies accelerate resource destruction, whereas some resource users have invested their time and energy to achieve sustainability A general framework is used to identify 10 subsystem variables that affect the likelihood of self-organization in efforts to achieve a sustainable SES
5,442 citations
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TL;DR: Recent statistical techniques, including nonlinear programming, have been added to a basic survey of equilibrium systems, comparative statistics, consumer behavior theory, and cost and production theory as discussed by the authors, and they have been used in a variety of applications.
Abstract: Recent statistical techniques, including nonlinear programming, have been added to a basic survey of equilibrium systems, comparative statistics, consumer behavior theory, and cost and production theory.
4,532 citations