Green infrastructures for more liveable cities

Transcription

1 geo -THE green economy observatory Green infrastructures for more liveable cities Edoardo Croci IEFE Bocconi University Green Infrastructures for More Liveable Cities. Assessing urban ecosystem services to promote nature-based solutions Milan, April 7 th, 2017

2 The international momentum for change and green urban infrastructures Enciclica «Laudato si» (May 2015). The Pope calls for an integrated ecological approach based on social ethics to pursue global and local solutions. Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference Financing for Development (August 2015). Asks to bridge the infrastructure gap facilitating the development of sustainable, accessible and resilient infrastructures in Developing Countries through enhanced financial and technical support fostering sustainable investments with a focus on urban contexts. Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development defining 17 Sustainable Development Goals (September 2015). SDG 11 Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 11 sub-targets address several aspects related to green infrastructures. Goals 13, 14 and 15 are particularly linked to preserving ecosystems. UNFCCC COP21 (December 2015). The Paris Agreement recognises a new central role of ecosystem services and biodiversity in mitigating climate change. The role of cities is fully recognized. The new Urban Agenda approved at the UN Habitat III Conference (October 2016). Promotes a new model of urban development to integrate environmental protection, sustainable economic growth and social equity. In May 2016 the EU approved the new EU urban agenda which identifies 12 urban challenges. One of these is dedicated to Sustainable use of land and NBS.

3 Natural capital and ecosystem services Natural Capital can be defined as the world s stock of natural assets which include geology, soil, air, water and all living things. It is from Natural Capital that humans derive a wide range of services, often called ecosystem services, which make human life possible. Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human wellbeing (TEEB 2010). Several classifications of ecosystem services exist including those presented by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005), TEEB (TEEB 2010) and the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES 2013).

4 World ecosystems and value generated Costanza et al, 2014

5 Desertification and deforestation The value of nature s services to humanity in 2011 amounts to USD 125 trillion per year. The loss of ecosystem services due to land-use changes from 1997 to 2011 amounts to USD 20 trillion per year. Source: Costanza et al, 2014

6 Source: EU, 2010 The status of ecosystem services in Europe

7 Green Infrastructures definition Natural or semi-natural networks of green (soil covered or vegetated) and blue (water covered) spaces and corridors that maintain and enhance ecosystem services. Green infrastructures range in scale, from individual street trees, green roofs and private gardens through to parks, rivers and woodlands, transport corridors, verges and, at the larger scale, wetlands, forests and agricultural land. 2 categories of green infrastructures: Existing infrastructures to be preserved and maintained New infrastructures to accrue natural capital Source: Naumann et al., 2011

8 Source: Naumann et al., 2011 Green Infrastructures benefits

9 Multiple benefits provided by Green Infrastructures Investments in Green Infrastructures can guarantee Multiple Benefits. Green Infrastructures can promote win-win solutions or small loss-big gain combinations that deliver benefits to a wide range of stakeholders as well as to the public at large. Green Infrastructures can act as acatalysttoeconomic growth by attracting inward investments and generating employment, reducing environmental costs and providing health benefits amongst others. Source: DG Environment (2013), Building a Green Infrastructure for Europe

10 Benefits provided by Green Infrastructures Green Infrastructures can generate economic, social or environmental benefits or a combination of them. They can be measured as: Direct value. The Green Infrastructure delivers a direct economic value Indirect value. The benefit delivered by the Green Infrastructure is valued in societal or environmental terms Cost reduction. The Green Infrastructure or the improvement of its quality can lead to a reduction in costs (maintenance, energy use, water management costs, etc.) Risk/resilience management (insurance value). The Green Infrastructure can be used to reduce risks, especially climate risks, associated with problems such as local flood risks, thus reducing the probability of incurring associated costs. Source: UK Green Building Council (2015), Demystifying Green Infrastructure

11 The EU s Green Infrastructure Strategy 2011 EU Biodiversity Strategy to Target 2 aims to ensure that by 2020, ecosystems and their services are maintained and enhanced by establishing Green Infrastructures and restoring at least 15% of degraded ecosystems Resource Efficiency Roadmap. The failure to protect our natural capital and to give a proper value to ecosystem services will need to be addressed as part of the drive towards smart, sustainable and inclusive growth which is the EU s priority Europe The roadmap identifies investing in Green Infrastructures as an important step towards protecting natural capital European Commission Communication «Green Infrastructure. Enhancing Europe s Natural Capital The EU Commission evidences that Ecosystem-based approaches are strategies and measures that harness the adaptive forces of nature. They are among the most widely applicable, economically viable and effective tools to combat the impacts of climate change EU report Supporting the Implementation of Green Infrastructure : including recommendations on how to promote Green Infrastructures, build capacity, improve information exchange, assess related technical standards and innovation. Other European policies linked with green infrastructures: climate adaptation, water, energy, rural, transport, finance, health

12 Urban Green Infrastructures Green walls Green corridors Street greening River stream restoration Permeable surfaces Urban farming Source: Arup, 2015

13 Urban Green Infrastructures Urban forest Microclimate with water Temporary flooding areas Sustainable drainage Green roofs Urban parks and gardens Source: Arup, 2015

14 Evaluation of ecosystem services provided by green infrastructures Source: EU, 2013

15 Economic value of water filtration benefits from protected areas The average per capita benefits are in the range per year for both water purification and provision. Source: EU, 2013

16 Effect of green spaces on property value in London Greater London Authority correlated property values to proximity to green spaces. In London the best urban parks and green spaces are often surrounded by expensive properties. Using 1,800 house purchase transactions in the London region, proximity to the Green Belt increased house values by 4.9%. Moreover Parks and open spaces contribute substantially to London s marketing image and may have an important role in encouraging inward investment (GLA, 2002). Source: Neil Dunse 2007, Urban Parks, Open Space and Residential Property Values, RICS

17 Urban ecosystem services evaluation in Barcelona Urban green forest can reduce the pollution level in a city absorbing ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2 nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulates (PM10). The application of i-tree software (US Department of Agriculture) allowed to calculate: 1. Quantity of pollutant removed from the atmosphere 2. Calculation of the service value (U.S. Department of Labor) Source: Ecological Services of Urban Forest in Barcelona Chaparro L., Terradas J., 2009

18 How to protect ecosystem services: national policy options Source: TEEB, 2013

19 How to protect ecosystem services: local policy options Source: TEEB, 2013

20 PES definition Payments for ecosystem services are tools that aim to change the behaviours that have negative impacts on ecosystems and the goods produced by introducing the economic value of ecosystem services in decision-making (Rojas and Aylward, 2003). A PES scheme is a voluntary transaction in which a specific ecosystem service or a natural resource that provides it is bought by at least one consumer, on condition that the supplier undertakes to provide that service with continuity (Wunder, 2002) A PES can be defined as a voluntary transaction between service users and service providers that are conditional on agreed rules of natural resource management for generating offsite services (Wunder, 2015) Source: UNEP, Payments for Ecosystem Services: Getting Started

21 Source: UNEP 2008 PES system compensation

22 Examples of PES implementation NY water services provision Water Penny, GR Commons Levy, UK The agreement signed between the NYC municipal company for water services provision and forest owners of the catchment basin follows a PES scheme. Owners are committed to manage forests in accordance with a program that includes forest management practices which have positive effects on the qualitative and quantitative consistency of water runoff. Compensation for ecosystem services performed is paid through surtax on water tariff, paid by end users. The City spent $1.5 billion in watershed protection projects against $6 billion to build the plant plus another $250 million per year for maintenance. Source: Landell-Mills e Porras, 2002 In Lower Saxony region a water local tax has been introduced to reduce the pollution level of the aquifer. The tax covers an agricultural area of 300,000 hectares, involving 12,000 farmers. The tax called «Water Penny» has been added to the normal water tariff. The amount has been reinvested in direct payments to farmers. Each year the Water Penny collects around 30 million euro. The Common Levy tax has been established on order to maintain the forest close to Wimbledon and Putney. Residents close to the forest have to pay an annual tax for the forest maintenance. Municipalities have access to a fund of 1.3 million pounds, two thirds of which comes from the Commons Levy.

23 How to finance urban green infrastructures Beyond traditional financial schemes, urban green infrastructures can be financed through economic instruments adopted by local governments, such as: Taxes for soil sealing Taxes on greenfield development Compensation systems to land use Markets for construction rights Tariffs for natural resources use (charge of externalities) Payments for ecosystem services

24 geo -THE green economy observatory