Dilemmas in the deep seas

Transcription

1 Dilemmas in the deep seas Sybille van den Hove The Seventh Trondheim Conferences on Biodiversity May 2013

2 Coming next Deep sea Values and value evidence Ecosystem goods and services Irreversibility Precaution Dilemmas

3 Continental shelves & deep seas

4 The deep sea Water and sea-bed areas below 200 m depth 64 % of the surface of the Earth (oceans cover 70% of the Earth) 90 % of all ocean areas Average ocean depth = 3730 m 60% of ocean floor below 2000 m Mapped seafloor: ~2-3% (publicly available) ~10% (with military) % of deep seafloor scientifically investigated Oceans (shallow and deep) host 32 of the 34 Animalia phyla of the planet, 13 seem to be exclusively marine (on land, resp. 12 and 1) Deep sea believed to host the highest biodiversity on Earth Relatively unexplored, little understood At the limit of governance on Earth

5 Why care about deep-sea ecosystems? Usefulness arguments ecosystem goods and services concept, captures dependence of human well-being on natural capital and flow of services it provides. Ethical arguments e.g. intrinsic value; rights of other species/ mother nature; duty to preserve; stewardship; belonging Complementary justifications

6 Because they are useful Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005 Deep-sea goods and services Supporting services: Chemosynthetic primary production; nutrient cycling; resilience; habitat, Provisioning services: Fish; oil & gas; genetic resources and chemical compounds for industrial and pharmaceutical uses; waste disposal sites, Regulating services: Water circulation and exchange; Gas and climate regulation; Carbon sequestration and storage; Waste absorption and detoxification; Biological control of pests; Cultural services: Educational; Scientific; Aesthetic; Spiritual; Goods and services provided by deep-sea ecosystems and the key roles they play in global biogeochemical and ecological processes are essential to the sustainable functioning of our biosphere and to human wellbeing.

7 Because they are threatened Human activities & impacts in the deep sea Fishing Oil & gas industry Mining Bio-prospecting Submarine cables Dumping of waste Dumping of off shore structures Dumping of wrecks and ammunitions Military activities (submarines, noise) Scientific research Shipping Carbon sequestration Gas hydrate exploration/extraction Pollution from land-based activities Atmospheric deposition of elements and contaminants Climate change Ocean acidification Direct and Indirect impacts UNEP 2007 Glover & Smith, 2003 Thiel, 2003 OSPAR QSR, 2000

8 Valuation of deep sea goods and services Increasing policy interest in applying ecosystem services frameworks and value evidence to governance and management of marine environments and resources Deep sea goods and services: possibly the worst case for deriving (monetary) values: limited knowledge of ecosystems and of the goods and services they provide; complexity of deep-sea processes; broad time- and space-scales over which they operate; problem of accounting for supporting services and the direct/indirect service debate; challenge of linking results of deep-sea research to services that people do experience (e.g. climate regulation).

9 But it is not just monetary values Value is a philosophical and ethical concept, not just an economic concept. Values are implicit and/or explicit in everything we do. Values need not necessarily be express in quantitative, monetary terms. Values can be recognised in qualitative or quantitative terms, along various dimensions. There are different types of value evidence and different potential applications of value evidence in deep-sea governance Can we develop value articulation processes which take into account normative and ethical dimensions, and re-establish the role of intuition, common sense and ethics in environmental valuation?

10 Documenting value Reflecting on value evidence

11 Uncertainties, irreversibilities Huge gaps in knowledge and uncertainties about: deep-sea biodiversity science/ecology of systems and services goods and services provided; relationships between biodiversity, functions, services; human activities and impacts; baselines Uncertainties and indeterminacies inherent to complex social-ecological systems Knowledge is growing more slowly than anthropogenic pressure Yet impacts can/could be (quasi)-irreversible (e.g. trawling, deep-sea mining, )

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13 Irreversibilities and precaution Asymmetry in error types Type I error False positive Accept a false hypothesis Excessive credulity In science: avoid them because you want to provide explanations of the world Type II error False negative Reject a true hypothesis Excessive scepticism Maybe these should be avoided when stakes are high and damages irreversible! Reflect on pros and cons of being wrong Irreversibility creates a fundamental asymmetry in the situation which calls for precautionary approaches Acknowledge the possibility of surprises, keep your options open, diversify to build resilience, avoid lock-ins, revisit, adapt, be humble

14 Ethical dilemmas More ethical process Worse Consequence Less ethical process Best consequence When the best process does not lead to the best consequence: an ethical dilemma 14

15 Oil industry s Ethical Dilemma Exploit deep sea resources More Profit Oil industry Don t exploit, favour energy shift Less Profit Dilemma between (short term) private profits and environmental + social risks/impacts Should we rush to exploit deep sea resources independently of the social and environmental risks and impacts? Often justified by incantations to growth yet the question "Growth: what for?" is seldom asked

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17 Going beyond the dilemma Broaden the time horizon Sustainable use is not a trade-off over the long term (A. Cox) Broaden the interest range broader set of values into the picture Ask the "what for" question Break free of lock-ins: technological, institutional, ideological We only looked at the private benefits (E. Barbier) Learn to live with uncertainty, ignorance, imperfect (or absent) evidence, high risks and irreversibility: Humility, Precaution, Imagination

18 Late lessons from early warnings

19 Summing up Ensuring conservation and sustainable use of deep-sea ecosystems requires concerted efforts and use of arguments from a broad spectrum of perspectives, including both conservation ethics and utilitarian arguments. Different types of value evidence and different potential applications of value evidence in deep-sea governance. Valuation within an ecosystem goods and services framework potentially a powerful tool for a number of purposes: more work needed on diversifying value articulation methods. Irreversibility (or quasi-irreversibility) of damages creates a fundamental asymmetry which calls for precautionary approaches. We do not manage ecosystems, we manage our relationship to ecosystems.

20 Thank you! Thanks to Claire Armstrong, Rob Tinch, Naomi Foley