A new paper co-authored by member of ESP explores the implications of four scenarios for the value of ecosystem services provided by terrestrial ecosystems to the year 2050 for Latin America and the Caribbean, based on the Great Transition Initiative scenarios and previous studies at a global scale.
The current ecosystem services value (ESV) of the 33 countries that make up this region was estimated to be $US15.3 trillion/year. By modelling the four future scenarios, the authors estimated that there is a potential for ESV to decrease to $8 trillion/year (for the “Fortress World” scenario) or an increase to $19 trillion/year (for the “Great Transition” scenario), a difference of a 47% decrease or a 25% increase. These results indicate that adopting appropriate policies could greatly enhance human well-being and sustainability in the region and help to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Hernández-Blanco, M., Costanza, R., Anderson, S., Kubiszewski, I., & Sutton, P. (2020). Future scenarios for the value of ecosystem services in Latin America and the Caribbean to 2050. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 2, 100008.
Find the full paper here.