The monetary valuation of ecosystem services is gaining significant traction in policy and busine... more The monetary valuation of ecosystem services is gaining significant traction in policy and business communities. Several tools and decision making processes have been proposed including criteria such as scale, uniqueness and threat for when such monetary valuation should be used for the purpose of biodiversity conservation. This paper uses case studies of monetisation projects where the outcomes have been measured, at least to some extent, to explore the limitations and application of these criteria. It concludes that while there may be some aspects of monetisation that could be beneficial for biodiversity conservation there is currently limited evidence of the effectiveness of such schemes and indeed the majority are being applied in areas where the criteria would specifically exclude its use in isolation and require some quantitative minimum (or maximum) measurements to be applied through additional policy or governance measures. 'the benefits that people derive from ecosystems' (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005), and how these can be valued, has become an integral part of decision making (Costanza et al, 2017; Costanza et al., 1997; Adams, 2014). Tools for economic valuation of natural resources were first applied in the 1980s (Pagiola, 2008; Mitchell & Carsons, 1989) and several frameworks have been developed since then in order to conduct valuations of ecosystems (Bagstad et al., 2013, Costanza et al., 2017). A main benefit from the application of such techniques is that they improve and facilitate discussions on biodiversity conservation both at the scientific and policy level (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; Kallis et al., 2013; Ruckelshaus et al., 2015). This is because they allow environmental contributions, and the consequences of their preservation, loss or restoration, to be expressed in terms that are comparable to other aspects relevant to land use choices (Randall, 2002; Hanley and Shogren, 2002). Despite the wide development of valuation studies (Costanza et al., 2017) there are several concerns regarding their applicability and challenges have been identified (Adams, 2014). Interdependent ecosystems and ecosystem services are difficult to value in monetary terms (Gómez-Baggethun & Ruiz-Pérez, 2011; Vatn & Bromley, 1994) or to value separately due to their inherent complexity (Martín-López et al., 2008, Rodriguez et al., 2006). Equally, there is a high degree of uncertainty about the role and importance of specific parts of ecosystems and their functions (Farley, 2008). Here uncertainty characterizes the unknown probabilities of possible outcomes and is to be distinguished from risk which describes known probabilities of possible outcomes. Valuations often rely on problematic economic assumptions implying normative judgments (Abson & Termanson, 2010). Markets often weight preferences by purchasing power (Farley et al., 2015) and are influenced by the power structures within and between the institutions in which they are made (
This paper assesses causes for, and challenges related to, the funding gap in infrastructure requ... more This paper assesses causes for, and challenges related to, the funding gap in infrastructure required for a large scale increase of renewable energy in the European energy mix, specifically crossborder interconnectors to transport renewable electricity from areas with high renewable energy potential and production to centres of energy consumption. We identify eight barriers that need to be addressed in order to make investment in interconnectors more attractive. We delineate both technological and governance/legislative barriers to investments in this area. Our analysis is based on a scoping literature review and a workshop that was held in London involving finance and legal experts.
This paper examines how a national risk register supports the implementation of disaster risk man... more This paper examines how a national risk register supports the implementation of disaster risk management practices at a local level. We present a case study of the UK's National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies and explore stakeholder understanding, views, perceptions, opinions, and application within the East of England. A semi-structured interview methodology was adopted for this paper with 14 key stakeholders from across the East of England interviewed. Thematic coding analysis was used to structure the results against a set of research questions. Interviewees were found to be largely unaware of the National Risk Register, and as such its usefulness as a risk management tool is limited. In particular, restricted local resources, limited understanding of risk, and a lack of actionable strategies were highlighted as barriers to action. Opportunities for capacity building at the local level, sharing best practice, and improved risk communication were all identified. The National Risk Register could be used to improve risk management at local levels but more engagement with it at a local level is required.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Catalysing low-carbon growth in developing economies Public Finance Mechanisms to scale up privat... more Catalysing low-carbon growth in developing economies Public Finance Mechanisms to scale up private sector investment in climate solutions Case study analysis Catalysing low-carbon growth in developing economies Public Finance Mechanisms to scale up private sector investment in climate solutions Case study analysis UNEP and Partners
Food production shocks can lead to food crises where access to appropriate quantities and quality... more Food production shocks can lead to food crises where access to appropriate quantities and quality of food become inadequate, unaffordable, or unreliable on a major scale. While the physical causes of food production shocks are well researched, the dynamics of responses to them are less well understood. This paper reviews those dynamics and includes evidence gathered via interviews of 44 expert practitioners sourced globally from academia, government, industry, think-tanks, and development/relief organizations. The paper confirms that policy interventions are often prioritised for national interests and poorly coordinated at regional and global scales. The paper acknowledges future compounding trends such as climate change and demographic shifts and suggests that while there are signs of incremental progress in better managing the impacts of shock events, coordinated responses at scale will require a paradigm shift involving major policy, market, and technological advancements, and a...
Managing Climate Change Business Risks and Consequences, 2012
Climate change presents a number of risks to economies and societies. These risks include physica... more Climate change presents a number of risks to economies and societies. These risks include physical, market, policy, and security risks. Some of these risks are more immediate than others, but all need careful management over time. The insurance sector has a critical role to play in tackling climate risks through the provision of risk management expertise and the provision of risk transfer mechanisms. The insurance sector is also one of the business sectors highly exposed to climate change risks because of the likely increase in frequency and severity of weather events and resultant socioeconomic changes. At the same time, climate change offers opportunities for the insurance industry, but to seize these opportunities, each insurer will need to focus on certain types of risks and products that are within its risk appetite. This chapter addresses three questions: What does climate risk mean for insurers? How can climate risk be removed and/or reduced? And what are the climate opportunities for insurers?
This paper highlights the urgent need for actuaries to take into account the importance, perils a... more This paper highlights the urgent need for actuaries to take into account the importance, perils and impacts of global biodiversity risks. The Biodiversity and Natural Capital Working Party has been set up to take forward a series of activities including think pieces, webinars and external engagement to ensure our proactive engagement with these risks.
Despite the rich and extensive documentation provided by European Member States and the European ... more Despite the rich and extensive documentation provided by European Member States and the European Commission in describing National Energy and Climates Plans and Long-Term Strategy plans, it is still very difficult to evaluate where and how the European Union as a whole has positioned itself on the path to achieving the Green Deal objectives, named the Fit 55% package in 2030 and the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050. This research aims to fill this gap, proposing a simple but exhaustive semantic scaling methodology that allows, for the first time, a quantitative evaluation of the quality of the National Plans based on European Commission assessments to measure their compliance with the European Green Deal objectives. Results show that Member States have more clearly set the Green Deal targets than the actions to deliver against those targets. Actions, in term of nationals policies and funds administration, are still immature and partially addressed.
The Global Carbon Budget is the cumulative carbon emissions that human activities can generate wh... more The Global Carbon Budget is the cumulative carbon emissions that human activities can generate while limiting the global temperature increase to less than 2°C. On this basis, most countries ratified the Paris Agreement 2015, pledging to reduce national emissions and the impacts of climate change. The European Union has planned to reduce emissions by 80% of their 1990 value by 2050 but such a target needs to be coupled with a further constraint on the cumulative greenhouse gases released along the path to 2050. The aim and the novelty of this study are to propose, for the first time, a carbon budget for the European Union, which represents the most significant physical characteristic to assess the feasibility of current EU-28 greenhouse gas reduction objectives under the goals of the 2015 Paris treaty
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative approach to facilities and built... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative approach to facilities and built asset management adaptation planning to climate change based on a hybrid backcasting/forecasting model. Backcasting envisions a future state and examines alternative “pathways of approach” by looking backwards from the future state to the present day. Each pathway is examined in turn to identify interventions required for that pathway to achieve the future state. Each pathway is reviewed using forecasting tools and the most appropriate is selected. This paper describes the application of this approach to the integration of climate change adaptation plans into facilities and built asset management. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers worked with various stakeholders as part of a participatory research team to identify climate change adaptations that may be required to ensure the continued performance of a new educational building over its life cycle. The team identified 2020, 2...
There is an expectation that the insurance sector should be leading business efforts in respondin... more There is an expectation that the insurance sector should be leading business efforts in responding to climate change due to their inherent exposure to increasing risks. However, insurance companies normally operate on a one year time horizonunderwriting risks through policies which change each year to reflect new knowledge of these risks. The ClimateWise principles is a voluntary initiative of the insurance sector that was launched in 2007 to provide a basis for insurance companies to engage with climate change risks. This paper introduces the ClimateWise initiative and explores progress made since its launch. The paper presents new knowledge on whether this voluntary initiative provides a useful structure for the insurance sector in responding to the challenge of climate change. It finds that while the insurance sector has engaged with climate change, there is much more to do and we welcome the recent changes to ClimateWise that more accurately reflect this. The paper concludes that ClimateWise has been a useful initiative for the insurance companies and as a potential benchmark for the sector it offers some value. However, ClimateWise has not provided a strong enough engagement across the sector to embed climate action into business decisions. Keywords Climate change Insurance Voluntary Business initiatives Corporate engagement Principles Highlights • The insurance sector's exposure to climate risks is increasing • ClimateWise has been a useful voluntary initiative for insurance companies • However, ClimateWise does not provided a strong enough engagement across the sector • ClimateWise has become more realistic in its assessment of insurance action
The monetary valuation of ecosystem services is gaining significant traction in policy and busine... more The monetary valuation of ecosystem services is gaining significant traction in policy and business communities. Several tools and decision making processes have been proposed including criteria such as scale, uniqueness and threat for when such monetary valuation should be used for the purpose of biodiversity conservation. This paper uses case studies of monetisation projects where the outcomes have been measured, at least to some extent, to explore the limitations and application of these criteria. It concludes that while there may be some aspects of monetisation that could be beneficial for biodiversity conservation there is currently limited evidence of the effectiveness of such schemes and indeed the majority are being applied in areas where the criteria would specifically exclude its use in isolation and require some quantitative minimum (or maximum) measurements to be applied through additional policy or governance measures. 'the benefits that people derive from ecosystems' (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005), and how these can be valued, has become an integral part of decision making (Costanza et al, 2017; Costanza et al., 1997; Adams, 2014). Tools for economic valuation of natural resources were first applied in the 1980s (Pagiola, 2008; Mitchell & Carsons, 1989) and several frameworks have been developed since then in order to conduct valuations of ecosystems (Bagstad et al., 2013, Costanza et al., 2017). A main benefit from the application of such techniques is that they improve and facilitate discussions on biodiversity conservation both at the scientific and policy level (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; Kallis et al., 2013; Ruckelshaus et al., 2015). This is because they allow environmental contributions, and the consequences of their preservation, loss or restoration, to be expressed in terms that are comparable to other aspects relevant to land use choices (Randall, 2002; Hanley and Shogren, 2002). Despite the wide development of valuation studies (Costanza et al., 2017) there are several concerns regarding their applicability and challenges have been identified (Adams, 2014). Interdependent ecosystems and ecosystem services are difficult to value in monetary terms (Gómez-Baggethun & Ruiz-Pérez, 2011; Vatn & Bromley, 1994) or to value separately due to their inherent complexity (Martín-López et al., 2008, Rodriguez et al., 2006). Equally, there is a high degree of uncertainty about the role and importance of specific parts of ecosystems and their functions (Farley, 2008). Here uncertainty characterizes the unknown probabilities of possible outcomes and is to be distinguished from risk which describes known probabilities of possible outcomes. Valuations often rely on problematic economic assumptions implying normative judgments (Abson & Termanson, 2010). Markets often weight preferences by purchasing power (Farley et al., 2015) and are influenced by the power structures within and between the institutions in which they are made (
This paper assesses causes for, and challenges related to, the funding gap in infrastructure requ... more This paper assesses causes for, and challenges related to, the funding gap in infrastructure required for a large scale increase of renewable energy in the European energy mix, specifically crossborder interconnectors to transport renewable electricity from areas with high renewable energy potential and production to centres of energy consumption. We identify eight barriers that need to be addressed in order to make investment in interconnectors more attractive. We delineate both technological and governance/legislative barriers to investments in this area. Our analysis is based on a scoping literature review and a workshop that was held in London involving finance and legal experts.
This paper examines how a national risk register supports the implementation of disaster risk man... more This paper examines how a national risk register supports the implementation of disaster risk management practices at a local level. We present a case study of the UK's National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies and explore stakeholder understanding, views, perceptions, opinions, and application within the East of England. A semi-structured interview methodology was adopted for this paper with 14 key stakeholders from across the East of England interviewed. Thematic coding analysis was used to structure the results against a set of research questions. Interviewees were found to be largely unaware of the National Risk Register, and as such its usefulness as a risk management tool is limited. In particular, restricted local resources, limited understanding of risk, and a lack of actionable strategies were highlighted as barriers to action. Opportunities for capacity building at the local level, sharing best practice, and improved risk communication were all identified. The National Risk Register could be used to improve risk management at local levels but more engagement with it at a local level is required.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Catalysing low-carbon growth in developing economies Public Finance Mechanisms to scale up privat... more Catalysing low-carbon growth in developing economies Public Finance Mechanisms to scale up private sector investment in climate solutions Case study analysis Catalysing low-carbon growth in developing economies Public Finance Mechanisms to scale up private sector investment in climate solutions Case study analysis UNEP and Partners
Food production shocks can lead to food crises where access to appropriate quantities and quality... more Food production shocks can lead to food crises where access to appropriate quantities and quality of food become inadequate, unaffordable, or unreliable on a major scale. While the physical causes of food production shocks are well researched, the dynamics of responses to them are less well understood. This paper reviews those dynamics and includes evidence gathered via interviews of 44 expert practitioners sourced globally from academia, government, industry, think-tanks, and development/relief organizations. The paper confirms that policy interventions are often prioritised for national interests and poorly coordinated at regional and global scales. The paper acknowledges future compounding trends such as climate change and demographic shifts and suggests that while there are signs of incremental progress in better managing the impacts of shock events, coordinated responses at scale will require a paradigm shift involving major policy, market, and technological advancements, and a...
Managing Climate Change Business Risks and Consequences, 2012
Climate change presents a number of risks to economies and societies. These risks include physica... more Climate change presents a number of risks to economies and societies. These risks include physical, market, policy, and security risks. Some of these risks are more immediate than others, but all need careful management over time. The insurance sector has a critical role to play in tackling climate risks through the provision of risk management expertise and the provision of risk transfer mechanisms. The insurance sector is also one of the business sectors highly exposed to climate change risks because of the likely increase in frequency and severity of weather events and resultant socioeconomic changes. At the same time, climate change offers opportunities for the insurance industry, but to seize these opportunities, each insurer will need to focus on certain types of risks and products that are within its risk appetite. This chapter addresses three questions: What does climate risk mean for insurers? How can climate risk be removed and/or reduced? And what are the climate opportunities for insurers?
This paper highlights the urgent need for actuaries to take into account the importance, perils a... more This paper highlights the urgent need for actuaries to take into account the importance, perils and impacts of global biodiversity risks. The Biodiversity and Natural Capital Working Party has been set up to take forward a series of activities including think pieces, webinars and external engagement to ensure our proactive engagement with these risks.
Despite the rich and extensive documentation provided by European Member States and the European ... more Despite the rich and extensive documentation provided by European Member States and the European Commission in describing National Energy and Climates Plans and Long-Term Strategy plans, it is still very difficult to evaluate where and how the European Union as a whole has positioned itself on the path to achieving the Green Deal objectives, named the Fit 55% package in 2030 and the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050. This research aims to fill this gap, proposing a simple but exhaustive semantic scaling methodology that allows, for the first time, a quantitative evaluation of the quality of the National Plans based on European Commission assessments to measure their compliance with the European Green Deal objectives. Results show that Member States have more clearly set the Green Deal targets than the actions to deliver against those targets. Actions, in term of nationals policies and funds administration, are still immature and partially addressed.
The Global Carbon Budget is the cumulative carbon emissions that human activities can generate wh... more The Global Carbon Budget is the cumulative carbon emissions that human activities can generate while limiting the global temperature increase to less than 2°C. On this basis, most countries ratified the Paris Agreement 2015, pledging to reduce national emissions and the impacts of climate change. The European Union has planned to reduce emissions by 80% of their 1990 value by 2050 but such a target needs to be coupled with a further constraint on the cumulative greenhouse gases released along the path to 2050. The aim and the novelty of this study are to propose, for the first time, a carbon budget for the European Union, which represents the most significant physical characteristic to assess the feasibility of current EU-28 greenhouse gas reduction objectives under the goals of the 2015 Paris treaty
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative approach to facilities and built... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative approach to facilities and built asset management adaptation planning to climate change based on a hybrid backcasting/forecasting model. Backcasting envisions a future state and examines alternative “pathways of approach” by looking backwards from the future state to the present day. Each pathway is examined in turn to identify interventions required for that pathway to achieve the future state. Each pathway is reviewed using forecasting tools and the most appropriate is selected. This paper describes the application of this approach to the integration of climate change adaptation plans into facilities and built asset management. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers worked with various stakeholders as part of a participatory research team to identify climate change adaptations that may be required to ensure the continued performance of a new educational building over its life cycle. The team identified 2020, 2...
There is an expectation that the insurance sector should be leading business efforts in respondin... more There is an expectation that the insurance sector should be leading business efforts in responding to climate change due to their inherent exposure to increasing risks. However, insurance companies normally operate on a one year time horizonunderwriting risks through policies which change each year to reflect new knowledge of these risks. The ClimateWise principles is a voluntary initiative of the insurance sector that was launched in 2007 to provide a basis for insurance companies to engage with climate change risks. This paper introduces the ClimateWise initiative and explores progress made since its launch. The paper presents new knowledge on whether this voluntary initiative provides a useful structure for the insurance sector in responding to the challenge of climate change. It finds that while the insurance sector has engaged with climate change, there is much more to do and we welcome the recent changes to ClimateWise that more accurately reflect this. The paper concludes that ClimateWise has been a useful initiative for the insurance companies and as a potential benchmark for the sector it offers some value. However, ClimateWise has not provided a strong enough engagement across the sector to embed climate action into business decisions. Keywords Climate change Insurance Voluntary Business initiatives Corporate engagement Principles Highlights • The insurance sector's exposure to climate risks is increasing • ClimateWise has been a useful voluntary initiative for insurance companies • However, ClimateWise does not provided a strong enough engagement across the sector • ClimateWise has become more realistic in its assessment of insurance action
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Papers by Aled Jones