2023-08-09 17:00:08
The values crisis shows the continued dominance of a limited set of values that have been shown to be inadequate to solve the twin crises of biodiversity and climate change, according to one research published in Nature. In addition, the study identifies four “values-focused approaches” that can foster the necessary conditions for transformative change towards a fairer and more sustainable future: recognizing the diversity of values regarding nature, incorporating those diverse values into decision-making at all sectors, reform policies and institutional frameworks, and change social norms to support values aligned with sustainability.
The authors point out that currently, market-based values of nature such as, for example, those associated with intensively produced food, tend to prevail over those linked to other contributions of nature: adaptation to climate change or sustaining cultural identities. Scientists consider them to be just as essential to achieving just and sustainable societies.
At the same time, the biodiversity conservation policies (such as the expansion of protected area networks) have also often prioritized limited sets of nature values. They have frequently marginalized the values of local communities and Indigenous Peoples, who, in many cases, have ensured the protection of the biodiversity of their territories.
To achieve fairer and more sustainable futures, it is essential to detach from the predominance of short-term benefits
According to the authors of the study, to achieve fairer and more sustainable futures, it is essential detach from the predominance of short-term profits and economic growth at all costs, which has been maintained to the detriment of including the numerous values of nature in economic and political decisions.
“It is more urgent than ever to better understand how and why private and public decision makers (under)value nature and, while it is a positive thing that global agreements such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity and the Targets Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for inclusive and participatory processes to translate the values of nature into action, prevailing environmental and development policies continue to prioritize a limited subset of (market-based) values of nature. ”, says the study coordinator Unai PascualIkerbasque professor at the research center Basque Center for Climate Change (BC3) and co-chair of the report on Values of Nature (“Values Assessment”) of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Combine values, with policy changes
The article derives from the July 2022 publication of the report Values Assessment, endorsed by all 139 IPBES member states. It summarizes and highlights the main findings of the report, based on one more review than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and various sources based on knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. With this evidence, the authors of the study propose combinations of “value-focused approaches” to ultimately use the changes necessary to transform current institutional structures and decisions that have a negative impact on sustainability and social justice.
What is in short supply is the willingness or capacity of governments and other key stakeholders to apply these methods and incorporate them into their decision-making systems.
Unai Pascual, professor Ikerbasque
In all societies there deep values and deep-rooted ones that are based on social norms and even legal norms (such as care and fairness), as well as specific justifications for why people care about nature. Here the so-called instrumental values stand out —such as when nature is perceived as an economic asset—, intrinsic —when you want to take care of nature from an ethical or moral point of view— and relational —values that arise from a deep relationship with nature, such as the feeling of belonging to a territory or collective identities. All those kinds of nature values can be measured with a wide variety of valuation methods based on different types of indicators or metrics of economic, ecological and socio-cultural values.
“The scientific community has developed a wide range of valuation methods. What is in short supply is the willingness or capacity of governments and other key stakeholders to apply these methods and incorporate them into their decision-making systems in a way that takes into account representation, equity and power relations between different parties involved in the valuation processes”, says Pascual.
Redefining development and well-being
Taking these findings as a starting point, the authors of the study call for balancing the values that underpin social structures (such as legal institutions) by promoting well-entrenched values such as care, solidarity, responsibility, reciprocity and justiceboth towards people and towards nature.
The study also argues that balancing the scales of decision-making taking into account the multiple values of nature is essential to achieve a real transformative change to face the current biodiversity crisis and climate emergency, which is closely linked to other problems such as the increase in pollution, the emergence of pandemics and environmental injustices. For this, it is necessary to redefine the concepts of “development” and “well-being”, and to recognize the multiple ways in which people relate to each other and to the natural world.
Our analysis shows that the best option we have to meet the global goals is to weave together the diverse values of nature into all sectors of society and our economies.
Unai Pascual, professor Ikerbasque
The work further emphasizes that recognizing and incorporating alternative worldviews, the values of los indigenous peoples and local communitiesand the institutions that support their rights and territories also allows policies to be more inclusive, which fundamentally translates into better results for people y for nature.
“Our analysis shows that the best option we have to meet global goals such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework and the SDGs is to weave together the diverse values of nature across all sectors of society and our economies,” concludes Pascual. .
Reference:
Pascual et al. 2023. “Diverse values of nature for sustainability”. Nature.
Rights: Creative Commons.
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