WP4: Accounting for the Increasing Benefits from Scarce Biodiversity and Ecosystems

This paper addresses a key omission in how governments account for biodiversity and ecosystem services in benefit–cost analysis: the widespread assumption that the value of ecosystem services remains constant over time. While policy guidance routinely adjusts future benefits of health, travel time, and safety for income growth, ecosystem services are typically treated as having a fixed willingness to pay (WTP).

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