Economics of Green Infrastructure (GI) presentation by Patrick ten Brink of the Institute for European Environmental Policy at the European Parliament 24 September 2013

1. 1Webinar series. Module 4. 7th June 2013
The economic benefits of green
infrastructure
Patrick ten Brink
Senior Fellow and Head of Brussels Office, IEEP
24 September 2013
Meeting the EU 2020 Biodiversity Targets: Mainstreaming Conservation
Conference of the European Parliament Intergroup
“Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development”
Tuesday 24 September 2013
ASP 3E2
European Parliament, Brussels

2. Ecosystem Services
2
Supporting/habitat
services:
Soil formation & fertility
Nutrient cycle
Photosynthesis
Cultural Services
Spiritual/religious experiences
Landscape value
Recreation & tourism
Cultural heritage
Education &scientific knowledge
Benefits we obtain from nature: people, society & economy
Provisioning services
Food, fibre, fuel
Fresh water
Genetic resources
Medicinal resources
Regulating Services
Climate regulation
Water purification
Air purification
Natural hazards management
Erosion control
Pollination
Qualitative,
quantitative and
monetary
assessments can
all be used to
assess the
benefits.
All levels generally
needed to get a
full picture of the
value of the
benefits.
Anthropocentric benefits complements intrinsic values of nature

3. Green infrastructure benefits
Natural resources
Water management
Climate regulation &
adaptation
Health and well-being
Investment and
employment
Tourism and recreation
Education
Land and property values
Resilience
Conservation benefits
Source: Mazza et al., 2010 adapted from Genecon LLP 2010
Core areas
(ie large areas of healthy and functioning ecosystems,
such as Natural 2000 protect`ed areas)
Restoration zones
(ie new areas of habitat for specific species or
restored ecosystems for service provision)
Sustainable use/ecosystem service zones
(ie areas that maintain or improve ecological quality through
sustainable economic land uses)
Green urban and peri-urban areas
(eg parks, gardens, grassy verges and green roofs)
Natural connectivity features
(eg hedgerows and riparian river vegetation)
Artificial connectivity features
(ie features assist species movement, such as green bridges
and eco-ducts)
Ecosystem
Services
BenefitsGreen infrastructure

4. Evidence base: values of ecosystem services
1 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000
Coral reefs (94)
Coastal wetlands (139)
Coastal systems (28)
Inland wetlands (168)
Tropical Forest (96)
Rivers and Lakes (15)
Temperate Forest (58)
Grasslands (32)
Woodlands (21)
Open oceans (14)
Sources:deGrootetal2012buildingonTEEB2010
For further details see
Page 9 of Chapter 2
of the TEEB Water and Wetlands report
and associated references
The TEEB Water and Wetlands (Russi et al., 2013)
http://www.ieep.eu/publications/2013/02/the-economics-of-ecosystems-and-biodiversity-for-water-and-wetlands

5. Benefits of Natura 2000 : The Backbone of EU’s GI
A first economic estimate
26,000 sites
~ 18% of EU Benefit First Estimates of value
Natura 2000
network total
benefits
~ €200 - 300 bn/year
Building on 3 estimates:
€223 – 314 bn /yr (a)
€251 – 360 bn /yr (b)
€189 – 308 bn /yr (c)
Carbon
sequestration /
storage
Current Stock: €600bn - €1130bn
Annual Sequestration Benefits:
€79-88bn increase to 2020 if
ecosystem quality is improved
€82-92bn to 2020 if +10% forest
area
Tourism
expenditures
~€ 50-85 billion /year for 1.7 billion
visitor days (~466,000 visitors/day average)
~€ 9-20 billion/year directly for
Natura 2000
Recreation
(non market benefits)
~€ 5-9 billion/year
for Natura 2000 (4 € / visit )
Estimating the Overall Economic Value of the Benefits provided by the Natura 2000 Network (ten Brink et al., 2011).
http://www.ieep.eu/publications/2012/06/estimating-the-overall-economic-value-of-the-benefits-provided-by-the-natura-2000-network

6. • Comparison between dikes and flood plains vs. storm surge barrier
for flood protection:
• Assess the recreational benefits of creating new floodplains
• Payback period to meet flood
mitigation objectives compared
• Based on these results, an
integrated management plan
was approved, integrating GI:
restoration of approximately
2,500 ha of intertidal and
3,000 ha of non-tidal areas,
reinforcement of dikes, and dredging to improve the fairway to Antwerp
© Daniela Russi
Scheldt estuary, Belgium and the Netherlands
Picture: http://www.sigmaplan.be
@ Daniela Russi Slide by Daniela Russi, IEEP

7. Restoration: can be costly, but can offer good returns
1 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 100,000,000
Coral reefs [7]
Coastal systems/Mangroves/Estuaries [9]
Marine [4]
Woodland/Shrubland [7]
Lakes/Rivers [26]
Inland Wetlands [4]
Tropical forest [10]
Temperate forest [20]
Grassland/Rangeland [6]
2
43
1
7
65
1415131211
10
89
16
Sources:Aronsonetal.2010
For further details see
Chapter 5, page 48 of the
TEEB Water and Wetlands report
and associated references
The TEEB Water and Wetlands (Russi et al., 2013)
http://www.ieep.eu/publications/2013/02/the-economics-of-ecosystems-and-biodiversity-for-water-and-wetlands

8. Climate Mitigation: Peatland restoration in
Bellacorick, Ireland: €1,506 per ha for the avoided carbon
loss & €118/ha/yr ave. net carbon sequestration (5.9 tCO2eq.
/ha.yr) (Wilson et al. 2012)
Climate change adaptation: restoration of floodplains
Danube River: Cost €183m, while est. annual revenues
€85.6 million & flood cost savings of €396 million (Hulea et al., 2009).
Flood control benefits: assessment for several French river
basins indicate benefits ranging from € 37/ha/year to €
617/ha/year (Schéhérazade et al., 2010)
Tourism: Cairngorms National Park, Scotland receives
around 1.4 million visitors a year
Economic impact and Employment: Natura 2000
network implementation est. to increase nat. GDP by 0.1 to
0.26 % and generate 12,792 additional jobs (Fernandez et al 2008)
Investments in Nature & GI can help meet
Cohesion Policy objectives
The Guide to Multi-Benefit Cohesion Policy Investments in Nature and Green Infrastructure (Hjerp et al., 2011)
http://www.ieep.eu/publications/2013/09/the-guide-to-multi-benefit-cohesion-policy-investments-in-nature-and-green-infrastructure

9.  Around 930,000 ha of peatlands have been drained in Germany for agriculture,
300,000 of which in the area of Mecklenburg- Vorpommern. Peatland drainage
causes emissions of around 20 million tonnes of CO2-eq. per year
 Between 2000 and 2008, 29,764 ha
of peatlands have been restored, by
raising the water level in order to
prevent further oxidation of the peat
 Also, a system of carbon credits for
the voluntary market was established
 The carbon credits were called MoorFutures.
They cost 35€ and correspond to 1tCO2/yr each
 8,000 MoorFutures sold in M-V so far  restoration of 55 ha
A
© http://www.moorfutures.de
Source: TEEB case by Förster (2009), mainly based on MLUV - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (2009), Schäfer (2009)
The MoorFutures programme (restoration+offsetting credits)
Slide by Daniela Russi, IEEP

10. Green infrastructure a driver of growth
Green Infrastructure contribution to economic growth): CRESR and Eftec for Defra and Natural England 2013
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=19056#Description

11. Summary
Benefits from GI: biodiversity, society and economy
Measurement: in qualitative, quantitative, monetary & spatial terms
GI Policy synergies: clear benefits re Biodiversity & Cohesion Policy
Benefits also for climate mitigation and adaptation, water purification and
supply, local and regional development, jobs and growth
Benefits are case specific: important to look carefully at the whole picture
Long term green growth and resource efficiency objectives would
benefit from working with nature and Green infrastructure

12. Further reading
12
The Guide to Multi-Benefit Cohesion Policy Investments in Nature and Green Infrastructure (Hjerp et al., 2011)
http://www.ieep.eu/publications/2013/09/the-guide-to-multi-benefit-cohesion-policy-investments-in-nature-and-green-infrastructure
Book: Social and Economic Benefits of Protected Areas: An Assessment Guide
(Kettunen and ten Brink eds, 2013) http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415632843/
The TEEB Water and Wetlands
(Russi et al., 2013) http://www.ieep.eu/publications/2013/02/the-economics-of-ecosystems-and-biodiversity-for-water-and-wetlands
The Nature and the Transition to a Green Economy
(ten Brink et al., 2012) http://www.ieep.eu/publications/2012/10/nature-and-its-role-in-the-transition-to-a-green-economy--1157
Guides on mainstreaming values into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) + webinars
(UNEP-WCMC and IEEP 2012) http://www.ieep.eu/newsletter/summer-2013/ieep-builds-capacity-in-mainstreaming-natures-values/
Book: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) in National and International Policy
Making (ed. Patrick ten Brink 2011) www.teebweb.org or via www.ieep.eu
Estimating the Overall Economic Value of the Benefits provided by the Natura 2000 Network (ten Brink et al., 2011).
http://www.ieep.eu/publications/2012/06/estimating-the-overall-economic-value-of-the-benefits-provided-by-the-natura-2000-network
Green Infrastructure options
(Mazza et al, 2010) http://www.ieep.eu/assets/898/Green_Infrastructure_Implementation_and_Efficiency.pdf
Green Infrastructure contribution to economic growth): CRESR and Eftec for Defra and Natural England 2013
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=19056#Description

13. www.ieep.eu
@IEEP_eu
IEEP is an independent not for profit institute dedicated to advancing an
environmentally sustainable Europe through policy analysis, development and
dissemination.
Patrick ten Brink
ptenbrink@ieep.eu
Thank you for your attention!