SciDev.Net

This policy brief, published by the Global Canopy Programme, proposes a system called Proactive Investment in Natural Capital (PINC), to reward countries for conserving large areas of tropical forest that act as 'global utilities' providing ecosystem services essential for preserving global food and energy security.

The authors suggest that the system, could complement current proposals for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). They argue that REDD could encourage countries with historically low deforestation rates to destroy their forests. They point out that if REDD successfully brings deforestation rates down — to zero eventually — then in the long-term, countries will not be able to receive payments for reducing deforestation.

The alternative, PINC, would build on existing systems that pay for ecosystem services, such as eco-certification, although scaling-up funding for standing forests is still a challenge, say the authors. To be effective, PINC requires capacity building and improved governance across the world. Land tenure reform will be needed in many countries, as will local participation in decision making and training in forest management. But, if appropriately designed, PINC could provide local communities with co-benefits such as poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation.

This report highlights the key findings of the Health and Environment Linkages Initiative, set up by the WHO and UN Environment Programme to identify ways of integrating environment and health considerations into decision-making. The report outlines the ways in which health and environment linkages are usually defined and framed by policymakers, and describes the most common institutional and political barriers they face.

A review of formal impact assessment tools is given, along with a 'menu of options' for good practice application of impact assessment. The report highlights the importance of measuring the impacts of decisions made in terms that can be understood by policymakers. And it offers guidance on how to combine health and environment issues with economic considerations, describing real-world experiences from Jordan, Thailand and Uganda.