The maintenance costs of marine natural capital: A case study from the initial assessment of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in France

Abstract

International audienceThere are two ways of assessing the costs of environmental degradation: as the costs associated with the loss of benefits resulting from the degradation of natural capital, and as the maintenance costs required to compensate for the actual or potential degradation of natural capital. The first of these methods is based on the Total Economic Value (TEV) of benefits forgone because of the depletion of ecosystem services delivered by marine biodiversity. The second method is based on the costs required to maintain a good state of marine biodiversity, one which makes it possible to deliver ecosystem services.This paper gives an illustration of this second approach. It details how these maintenance costs have been calculated in the initial assessment of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) in France. It addresses nine problem areas – corresponding to nine sources of environmental degradation – from non-native invasive species to oil spills. It gives a total figure for these degradation costs (around 2 billion Euros). The results are compared with those of other Member States who have taken similar approaches in the context of the MSFD. One key conclusion is that it is not really possible to make meaningful comparisons at this stage, since the methods of data collection and the nature of the costs are very different. The need to develop such assessments in a standardised way is noted

La mise en économie de la nature, contrepoints historiques et contemporains

“…Par ailleurs, l'approche par les coûts de maintien, qui consiste à évaluer les dépenses nécessaires pour maintenir le bon état de la biodiversité et des services écosystémiques dont elle est le support, recueille une adhésion croissante depuis plusieurs années (Bartelmus [2009] ; Roach et Wade [2006] ; Levrel et al [2012]). C'est une méthode plus simple, qui s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une durabilité forte (Neumayer [1999]) où l'intégrité de la nature est défendue.…”

“…L'économie retrouve alors sa place instrumentale, en fournissant un outil de comptabilité au service de politiques publiques qui restent autonomes dans la détermination de leurs objectifs. En France, une illustration récente de ce changement est offerte par l'évaluation des coûts de maintien du bon état écologique des eaux marines, dans le cadre de la Directivecadre Stratégie pour le milieu marin (DCSMM) (Levrel et al [2014b]).…”

The Role of Economics in Ecosystem Based Management: The Case of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive; First Lessons Learnt and Way Forward.

“…The cost-based approach assumes that the costs of degradation are equal to the current costs of protecting the marine environment. Studies from Spain, the Netherlands and France show that the cost of degradation is €1.5-2 billion annually (Anon 2012, Walker et al 2011, Levrel et al 2014. As noted by the European Commission (EC 2014a) the approach is based on the assumption that current costs for measures to prevent environmental degradation would have only been made if the value of preventing the degradation of the marine environment is higher than the cost of the measures.…”

Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of materials in wooden boat ecodesign

“…The rising awareness of climate change on a global scale as well as the impact on the sea led France (Levrel et al 2014) and Europe to set up a policy for the protection of marine areas. Up to the present, the protection of marine environments has been concentrated on a more reasonable use of marine resources (Bertram and Rehdanz 2013).…”