Coastal Wetland Restoration a Nature Based Decarbonization Multi-Benefit Climate Mitigation Solution

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Social Sciences

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Andrew Plantinga

Bren School of Environmental Science and Management

University of California, Santa Barbara

Ecosystem services from coastal wetlands

• Regulating (moderating of natural phenomena)
• Carbon sequestration
• Shoreline stabilization and erosion control
• Pollution buffering and wastewater
• Biological and pest control
• Water supply regulation
• Flood and storm protection
• Provisioning (benefits consumed from nature)
• Science and education
• Recreation
• Aesthetic values and cultural activities
• Ornamental resources
• Supporting (services necessary for the provision of all other services)
• Refugia
• Nitrogen sequestration

Source: Ballard, J., Pezda, J., and D. Spencer. 2016. An Economic Valuation of Southern California Coastal Wetlands. Masters’ Thesis Project, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Benefits estimation

• How do you quantify in monetary terms the benefits from coastal wetlands?

Quantity

Marginal benefit – what is the value of one more unit of the ecosystem service? (Also, marginal willingness to pay or demand)

Q₀

Q₁

Total benefit – what is the total benefit derived from a change in an ecosystem service

Valuation approaches

• For services that are market goods (e.g., water supply), one can use observed prices and quantities to estimate demand
• For services that are non-market goods, there are a variety of non-market valuation approaches that can be used to estimate marginal willingness to pay
• Hedonic property models -- housing prices reflect how much people value living close (or far from) wetlands
• Travel cost models – expenditures to travel to wetlands reveals how willingness to pay
• Contingent valuation – hypothetical surveys are used to elicit marginal willingness to pay for services from wetlands

Social cost of carbon

• “The social cost of carbon (SC-CO2) for a given year is an estimate, in dollars, of the present discounted value of the future damage caused by a 1-metric ton increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere in that year, or equivalently, the benefits of reducing CO2 emissions by the same amount in that year. The SC-CO2 is intended to provide a comprehensive measure of the net damages – that is, the monetized value of the net impacts – from global climate change that result from an additional ton of CO2. These damages include, but are not limited to, changes in net agricultural productivity, energy use, human health, property damage from increased flood risk, as well as nonmarket damages, such as the services that natural ecosystems provide to society. ” – California Air Resources Board, California’s 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan