Marianne Kettunen: Yes, it’s a really good question and I would say, yes, but maybe rather than using the word differentiate you would need to be combining the two. So when looking at your instruments for integrating ecosystem services into sectoral policies some of them are public and then there’s a whole idea of more novel instruments which are focused on the private sector. Indeed private sector decision making can be quicker and can therefore have faster impacts. But so far private sector contributions to conservation have typically been more localised. And therefore in order to mainstream and in order to snowball the impacts I would argue you require public policy support to engage with more and/or larger-scale private actors. To do that you would require perhaps start-up funding which is public funding, you would require the policy framework to be supportive of these private decision making instances and private initiatives. So, you can differentiate between the roles public and private can play but you should differentiate in such a way that you are contributing towards the same goal in as synchronised manner from both of the sectors.
Ilse Gejzendorffer: I am not sure that inclusion of ecosystem services in decision making of the private sector would be always more local. Given the importance multinationals have in using natural resources globally, or how internationally the financial sector is involved in granting loans to construction projects, means incorporating ecosystem services in their decision making processes would affect many people and resources. Especially in large enterprises there has been a change in attitude towards how they use resources. Where previously problems like reduced water quality were the problem of whoever was downstream, the expansion of businesses now means they themselves are in some way related to the companies downstream (if they do not own it directly), so there is much more incentive to think circular and sustainable. Although policies without a doubt help in many countries, it is simultaneously not a safety net for a large share of the global population, so a more conscious private sector may offer great potential internationally to incorporate ecosystem services.
Comments
#1
Marianne Kettunen: Yes, it’s a really good question and I would say, yes, but maybe rather than using the word differentiate you would need to be combining the two. So when looking at your instruments for integrating ecosystem services into sectoral policies some of them are public and then there’s a whole idea of more novel instruments which are focused on the private sector. Indeed private sector decision making can be quicker and can therefore have faster impacts. But so far private sector contributions to conservation have typically been more localised. And therefore in order to mainstream and in order to snowball the impacts I would argue you require public policy support to engage with more and/or larger-scale private actors. To do that you would require perhaps start-up funding which is public funding, you would require the policy framework to be supportive of these private decision making instances and private initiatives. So, you can differentiate between the roles public and private can play but you should differentiate in such a way that you are contributing towards the same goal in as synchronised manner from both of the sectors.
#2
Ilse Gejzendorffer: I am not sure that inclusion of ecosystem services in decision making of the private sector would be always more local. Given the importance multinationals have in using natural resources globally, or how internationally the financial sector is involved in granting loans to construction projects, means incorporating ecosystem services in their decision making processes would affect many people and resources. Especially in large enterprises there has been a change in attitude towards how they use resources. Where previously problems like reduced water quality were the problem of whoever was downstream, the expansion of businesses now means they themselves are in some way related to the companies downstream (if they do not own it directly), so there is much more incentive to think circular and sustainable. Although policies without a doubt help in many countries, it is simultaneously not a safety net for a large share of the global population, so a more conscious private sector may offer great potential internationally to incorporate ecosystem services.