Who should value nature?

Abstract

There is currently a debate about whether nature should be valued in intrinsic ways or via economic valuation. By looking at the question of who values nature in countries in the global south this allows us to explore what might happen in practice when a diverse range of stakeholders are involved such as governments, companies, local communities and indigenous peoples. This chapter will argue that these are important issues that require further research because stakeholders have different agendas (valuation is not a neutral scientific process) and there are often power differentials at play. The chapter features interviews with key academics, consultants and indigenous leaders about how they value nature and their views on monetary and non-monetary valuation. The full interviews can be accessed at: http://whygreeneconomy.org/who-should-value-nature/.