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Environmental Justice Challengers for Ecosystem Service Valuation
Citation:
Weber, M. Environmental Justice Challengers for Ecosystem Service Valuation. Chapter 0, Building a green economy. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI, , 135-148, (2013).
Impact/Purpose:
This paper describes environmental justice concerns associated with pursuing ecosystem service valuation. These concerns are worth emphasizing as multiple government agencies begin incorporating more social science into natural resource research and management. Consideration of environmental justice is an Executive Order, and can be incorporated into natural resource management alongside economic efficiency.
Description:
In pursuing improved ecosystem services management, there is also an opportunity to work towards environmental justice. The practice of environmental valuation can assist with both goals, but as typically employed obscures distributional analysis. Furthermore, valuation techniques may provide misleading or flawed information for weighing outcomes across groups. Pitfalls, solutions, and research needs are summarized at the nexus of valuation and environmental justice.