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Assessing the values of nature to promote a sustainable future

Understanding the diverse ways in which the natural world provides value aids informed policy decisions. The generation of a detailed catalogue of this diversity, and ways to assess values, paves the way to a more sustainable future.
  1. Giulia Sajeva

    1. Giulia Sajeva is in the Department of Cultures and Societies, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy.

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What is the value of nature? Every aspect of human life and socioeconomic development benefits from nature and biodiversity, yet — or maybe precisely because of this — there is no definitive response to this question. Writing in Nature, Pascual et al.1 propose a common classification ‘language’ (typology) to deal with the variety of the values provided by nature, and the diversity of ways in which people’s lives, principles and behaviours are influenced by their perception of nature.

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Nature 620, 735-736 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02487-8

References

  1. Pascual, U. et al. Nature 620, 813–823 (2023).

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  2. IPBES. Methodological Assessment Report on the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. (Balvanera, P. et al. eds) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6522522 (IPBES Secretariat, 2022).

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  4. Pascual, U. et al. BioScience 64, 1027–1036 (2014).

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  6. Sikor, T. (ed.) The Justices and Injustices of Ecosystem Services (Routledge, 2013).

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  7. Dowie, M. Conservation Refugees (The MIT Press, 2009).

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  8. Girard, F., Hall, I. & Frison, C. (eds) Biocultural Rights (Routledge, 2022).

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  9. Kosoy, N. & Corbera, E. Ecol. Econ. 69, 1228–1236 (2010).

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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