Uma visão econômica sobre a conservação da biodiversidade e serviços ecossistêmicos

Abstract

Economic theory proposes instruments for managing natural resources, such as environmental taxes and tradable emission rights, and environmental valuation techniques. This can enable the creation of incentive mechanisms for the protectors of ecosystem services, through payment systems for environmental services, but for this it is necessary to identify stable sources of funding. This means overcoming false dichotomies between environmental conservation and economic activity, as well as between the public and private sectors, to create the necessary conditions for sustainable development. Market mechanisms must boost the economy, but the collective interest must prevail, including for the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services. When the market fails to deal with externalities (environmental costs that are not charged to those responsible for the damage), public policies are needed to correct these failures, and this requires metrics to measure externalities through environmental valuation.