Market based approaches to conservation. Marine Conservation

Transcription

1 Market based approaches to conservation Marine Conservation

2 Contents What are market based solutions? Why market based solutions? Eco-labelling and Certification The power of the consumer Eco-labelling in Fisheries & Aquaculture

3 What are market based solutions? In the last 5 years there has been an increase in the use of market based instruments (MBIs) as environmental policy tools. Driven by two forces: a (perceived) failure of regulatory approaches (command and control) & high cost of some approaches

4 MBIs are broadly defined as: instruments or regulations that encourage behavior through market signals rather than through explicit regulations. The focus on applying MBIs is on using market signals to achieve outcomes through the self-interest of the firms and individuals changing behaviour.

5 Emission charges User charges Product charges Performance bonds Non-compliance fees Subsidies Removal of perverse subsidies/taxes Tradeable permits, rights or quotas Offset schemes e.g. carbon trading or carbon offsetting Reducing market barriers Extension / education programs Research programs to facilitate market exchanges Labelling Information disclosure

6 Why MBIs?? Increasingly efforts are focusing on the potential of MBIs to meet the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility in environmental management. Meeting new research and debates over the valuation of ecosystem services Addressing externalities in the economic system Linking the environment to the economy (or conservation to jobs!)

7 Ecosystem valuation A new way of conceptualising the roles that ecosystems play in society. Ecosystems provide goods & services for economic and social development. Services can be seen as use & non-use values or source, service & sink values Environmental economists are devising methods to evaluate and assess the economic value of ecosystem services an emerging area of research.

8 MBIs have two potential cost advantages over more traditional instruments. First, MBIs allow different firms to make different adjustments in response to their unique business structures read: FLEXIBLE Second, incentives to discover cheaper ways to achieve outcomes provide dynamic ways of reducing the future costs of achieving targets. Read: EFFICIENT

9 Are we buying our way out of climate change?? Or is carbon trading a legitimate way to drive incentives towards a green economy?

10 Market instruments are not a replacement for traditional regulatory tools. However, MBIs are attractive for linking economic issues with environmental issues a key part of sustainability MBIs can help change industry and economic forces and include conservation in economic decisions.

11 Ecolabelling & Certification Ecolabelling is a recent phenomenon that aims to tune markets towards sustainable fisheries. An ecolabel is a logo or mark that denotes an environmental superior mark on a product. Certification refers to a processes that leads to an ecolabel, or a process that validates the legality of catch e.g. CCAMLR catch documentation.

12 A definition: OECD has defined environmental labelling as the: "voluntary granting of labels by a private or public body in order to inform consumers and thereby promote consumer products which are determined to be environmentally more friendly than other functionally and competitively similar products"

13 History of Eco-labelling Ecolabelling is a growing force in the production, marketing & consumption of food and other products ranging from coffee, timber, food, and manufactured products The usefulness of eco-labelling in creating a market-based incentive for environment-friendly production was recognized about two decades ago when the first eco-labeled products were put on sale in Germany in the late 1970s. Since then, and especially during the 1990s, ecolabelling schemes have been developed in most industrialized countries for a wide range of products and sectors.

14 Ecolabelling was globally endorsed in 1992 at UNCED, where governments agreed to: "encourage expansion of environmental labelling and other environmentally related product information programmes designed to assist consumers to make informed choices".

15

16 International Standards Organisation identifies types: Type 1: voluntary, multiple criteria, 3 rd party programs that award a licence indicating overall environmental preferability Type 2: self declared environmental claims, made without independent 3 rd party certification; Type 3: quantified information about products based on life cycle impacts (ISO 14040) or Environmental Product Declarations EPDs.

17 How does it work? Ecolabelling is an MBI that seeks to direct consumers' purchasing behavior so that they take account of attributes other than price, Consumers' preferences are expected to result in price and/or market share differentials between products with ecolabels and those without, Potential price and/or market share differentials provide the economic incentive for firms to seek certification of their product's.

18

19 Benefits & Concerns: the consumer The consumer can positively influence the system through purchasing power Increased choice of products Consumers increasingly want more information on seafood product life history & impact. Consumers need to care about sustainable practices! Labels need to be seen as legitimate & transparent There is an emerging issue of label saturation Traceability and credibility are issues

20 Seafood Choices Alliance The Marketplace for Sustainable Seafood.

21

22 Benefits & Concerns: the producer Potential increase in market share and price for certified product. A rapidly growing market Demonstrates corporate social responsibility and responds to public / government concerns Needs support of retailers to promote schemes and pass on premiums Certification is expensive & time consuming Suspicion of 3 rd party, NGO supported schemes

23 The Marine Stewardship Council Initiated by WWF & Unilever in Now an independent body funded from a mix of sources. Has faced substantial criticism Reformed governance in 2000

24 The MSC Principles & Criteria Go through the P&Cs

25 MSC Fishery Certification Model > 80 for each Principle Principle 1 Principle 2 Principle 3 > 60 for each Criterion Criterion 1.1 Criterion 1.2 Criterion 1.3 Criterion 2.1 Criterion 2.2 Criterion 2.3 Criterion 3A Criterion 3B Sub Criterion Subcriterion Subcriterion Subcriterion Subcriterion Subcriterion Subcriterion Operational Sub-criteria are identified by Certifier Subcriterion 3.B.1 Subcriterion 3.B.2 Subcriterion 3.B.3 MSC Principles MSC Criteria Corrective actions are invoked for any MSC Criteria where the score at any subbelow the MSC Criterion is less than 80% for that sub-criterion Indicator sub-criteria (i.e. those against which assessments are performed)

26

27 In 2005/ 2006: 50 fisheries certified or currently in assessment 3 million tonnes from MSC certified fisheries 42% of global wild salmon 32% of global prime whitefish 18% global spiny lobster More than 50% growth in seafood products displaying the label Retail sales of MSC labelled product grew 76% in 2005/06

28 In 2008:The estimated retail value of seafood products bearing the Marine Stewardship Council logo is now approaching one billion US dollars annually 1,600 products by the end of June countries where MSC labelled products are available 102 fisheries certified

29 Aquaculture and eco-labelling Organic and sustainable is becoming increasingly attached to aquaculture. Source of considerable debate over scope & application. Organic products are growing at a rapid rate in the UK the market is growing at 11% pa and is worth 1.2 billion. Marketing of organic salmon is occurring in t produced in UK, 60% increase from Projected to grow to t by 2008 (SOIL Assoc)

30 Aquaculture and eco-labelling SOIL Association UK has developed certification standards for: Salmon Shellfish Carp Warm water prawns Tilapia Other organisations such as the Organic Food Federation (UK) & Aquaculture Certification Council (UK) have developed standards. Competition between standards emerging

31

32 Current organic standards under discussion in SOIL:

33

34 Revision Look up the MSC and SOIL websites Browse the literature that is provided Read the MSC principles & criteria and the SOIL standards