Integrating green infrastructure ecosystem services into real economies
Summary
Good quality urban green spaces, linked up within urban green infrastructure (UGI), provide the benefit of multiple ecosystem services, and requires investment of capital and work. The goal of turning investments into high quality green space aligns with the goal of a 'green economy'. Here we adopt and build on the UNEP definition of green economy, and in GREEN SURGE green economy is defined as: An economy that aims to improve human well-being an
d social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy is low-carbon, resource-efficient, and socially-inclusive.
GREEN SURGE sets out to explore the connections between green economy, biodiversity, people and green space in urban settings. This report situates UGI within the green economy, aiming to contribute to existing green development strategies and facilitate improved decision-making.
Green economy is best seen as a comprehensive umbrella covering a number of economic approaches and policy/governance strategies, where transitioning to an economy that supports sustainability targets could be achieved using these strategies individually or in combination.
Green economy has at least four aspects that connect to UGI: economic competitiveness, business opportunities, economic efficiency (avoided costs) and investment in urban environmental quality. The evidence and support for these connections can be found both in the scientific literature and in the many and diverse projects that have sprung from a widespread, often city-led and initiated by local authorities, interest in urban sustainable development. A strategic focus on the UGI needed for different ecosystem services, not least for services with a direct economic relevance, has been shown to lead to cost savings and new business opportunities. In short, many of the cases are about strategic investment to either avoid costs or to increase benefits, or in some cases both, producing comprehensive value creation.
Decentralisation, outsourcing and an opening up of the "green" sector to new services and connections to society have created new business opportunities and invited new actors to engage with UGI. In this Deliverable we describe the actors involved in the creation and maintenance of UGI. Various UGI governance approaches are discussed from an economic perspective, with a particular emphasis on their green economy context.
