The conference on Food Safety and Nutrition in 2050 – organised by Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission – provided an opportunity for dialogue among global stakeholders on the emerging challenges to the food chain and the role of future policy-making in addressing those challenges. The conference also provided the opportunity to foster a dialogue on consumers' expectations for safe, nutritious, quality and sustainable food and the role of food science, technology and innovation in achieving them. Held on 17 July 2015 in Milan, Italy.

1. Towards a Global Study on
The Economics of Ecosystems
and Biodiversity in Agriculture
and Food (TEEBAgFood)
Alexander Müller, UNEP Geneva
17. July 2015
EXPO 2015 Milano

2. 7 8 8 9 9 8 10 11
21 23 23
49
66
75
85
82
79
77
63
49
35
20
8
-2
-9
-13
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1850 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100
Annual increments
(millions)
Total population (billions)
Population growth to continue, but at a slower pace
High variant
low variant
Source: UNPD, 2008

3. World Population Prospects – Change between
2010 and 2100 (millions)

4. ECONOMICS OF LAND DEGRADATION:
THE COSTS OF NON-ACTION ARE HUGE
1. 24% of the world´s productive lands are degraded.
2. Annual economic losses due to deforestation and
land degradation are estimated at 1.5-3.4 trillion Euro
in 2008, equaling 3.3%-7.5% of the global GDP.
3. Up to1.5 billion people in all parts of the world are
already directly affected.

5. Results
Carbon footprint
5
Carbon footprint of food waste up to 3.3 Gt CO2
If food wastage was a country, it would rank as the 3rd top emitter.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
GtonnesCO2eq.
Total GHGs emissions excluding LULUCF
Top 20 of countries (year 2005, WRI) vs. Food wastage
Source for blue bars: WRI, 2012. Climate Analysis Indicators Tool. Available at: http://cait.wri.org.

6. The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity in Agriculture and Food
(TEEBAgFood)
First Results from Studies on
Palm Oil and Rice

7. GDP of the Poor
Traditional measures of national income (GDP) measure the flow of
goods and services. Could be misleading as indicators of societal
progress because of the “invisibility” of many of nature’s
values.
TEEB reports present ‘GDP of the Poor’ as a new metric that
integrates economic, environmental and social aspects, thereby
indicating the vulnerability of the rural poor if valuable natural
resources are lost.
Ist has been estimated that biodiversity and ecosystem services
account for between 40 to 90 per cent of the GDP of the Poor.

8. TEEB approach has three different levels of action:
1. Recognizing value – identifying the wide range of benefits in
ecosystems, landscapes and biodiversity, such as provisioning,
regulating, habitat/supporting and cultural services
2. Demonstrating value – using economic tools and methods to make
nature’s services economically visible in order to support decision-
makers wishing to assess the full costs and benefits of land-use change
3. Capturing value – incorporating ecosystem and biodiversity benefits
into decision-making through incentives and price signals

9. No Commoditization of Nature
Assigning an estimated value for a particular
ecosystem service does not mean that this is
‘the price’; TEEB in no way supports the
commoditization of nature.

16. TEEBAgFood Palm Oil Study
Countries included within the materiality assessment

17. Interim findings from the TEEBAgFood palm oil study 1
Trucost (2015) assessed ‘natural capital’ and ‘social capital’
costs in the top eleven palm oil producing countries
These costs were determined by evaluating three main
criteria:
(i)yield and conversion rate;
(ii)quantity and type of inputs; and
(iii)the monetary value per quantity of emissions.

18. Interim findings from the TEEBAgFood palm oil study 2
Palm oil is the world’s most consumed vegetable oil with over 56 million
metric tons in 2013.
Production expected to double over the next 40 years for use in food,
cosmetics and biofuels.
Palm oil production generates the following natural and social capital
costs:
•carbon emissions and their impact on global warming (58 per cent),
•fertilizer application (23 per cent);
•palm oil mill effluent emissions (12 per cent);
•manufacturing of inputs (4 per cent);
•and pesticide application (3 per cent).

19. Interim findings from the TEEBAgFood palm oil study 3
Interim valuation (not yet peer reviewed)
In total, palm oil production in the top 11 producer
countries generates natural and social capital costs of
US $44 billion/a, ranging between US $271 and US $1,300
per ton, depending on the practices used and the
agro-ecological conditions.

20. Interim findings from the TEEBAgFood palm oil study 4
The top two producing countries contribute 66 and 26 per cent
(respectively) of the total costs (high production quantity and high intensity).
Palm oil production in countries with significantly lower rates of peatland
drainage and forest conversion is significantly less costly (difference of
$563 per ton).
Social capital costs in terms of human health, due to the high application of
fertilizers coupled with poor access to safe drinking water, amount to
roughly $533 per ton of palm oil produced.
Please note that the results are preliminary and not yet peer reviewed.

21. TEEBAgFood: Integrated rice-fish systems*
• The Pampangan swamp
floodplain area in the
Philippines is characterized
by seasonal shift of aquatic
and terrestrial environment.
• During wet season the
plain is covered by water of
1 – 4 meters depth,
whereas during dry season
the plain becomes dry
land.
* Muthmainnah, et al., 2015

22. Integrated rice-fish systems
• Local people living around the swamp
work as fishermen during wet season
and as rice farmer during dry season.
• The swamp is managed in integrated
manner based on local wisdom.
• During wet season, the water body is
managed as a common property, where
all community members are allowed to
exploit fish resources.
• During dry season, the permanent
owners claim their plot of rice field to
cultivate the rice.
Philippines
Vietnam

23. • The average of people gross income is
IDR 15,000,000 per season from
fisheries activity and IDR 11,000,000
per season from rice farming.
• If the study had only focused on the
commodity rice, the valuation of the
rice agro-ecosystems would have
missed a crucial livelihood component
of the rural population – fishing.
Integrated rice-fish farming
YET STILL MORE
THAN THAT….

24. …more than calories or dollars
• Nutrition: protein, micro-nutrients, vitamin A; zinc; iron
and calcium
• Important source of nutrition and income for the landless
poor.
• Recreation
WorldFish Center
WE NEED TO VALUE THESE BENEFITS
AND MAKE THEM VISIBLE!

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