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Private Sector Involvement in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Using a UN platform to promote market‐based instruments for ecosystem services
Author(s) -
Hrabanski Marie
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
environmental policy and governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.987
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1756-9338
pISSN - 1756-932X
DOI - 10.1002/eet.1780
Subject(s) - ecosystem services , private sector , corporate governance , payment for ecosystem services , payment , business , ecosystem , environmental resource management , economics , accounting , ecology , finance , economic growth , biology
Abstract The article analyses the implication of private sector representatives in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) (2001–2005). The article shows that, before this international biodiversity assessment, firms were involved in three coalitions: the greenhouse gas pro‐trading coalition, the voluntary private standard coalition and the payment for environmental services coalition. These three coalitions all advocated a particular style of regulation that gave overwhelming emphasis to market‐based policy instruments. Corporate experts from the three coalitions identified were recruited to participate in the MEA. Thanks to the political visibility given to the ecosystem services concept by the MEA, private industry was able to strengthen and legitimize its actions in favour of market‐based environmental governance. At the same time, associating private sector representatives with the MEA process made it easier to disseminate the concept of ecosystem services. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment