The Uttarakhand government recently announced plans to begin assessing the value of its natural resources through a ‘Gross Environment Product’ (GEP). This initiative, similar to the concept of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), aims to gauge the economic value derived from the environment. However, this move has sparked debates and questions regarding its implementation and clarity of purpose.
Understanding GEP
Introduced on a global level by ecologists like Robert Costanza in 1997, GEP serves as an evaluation system to measure ecological health. It takes into account the value of products and services provided by the ecosystem for human well-being and sustainable economic and social development. These include provisioning services, regulating services, and cultural ecosystem services.
GEP forms one component of Green GDP, an economic growth indicator that also factors in environmental considerations along with a country’s standard GDP. As such, it accounts for losses to biodiversity and costs related to climate change.
The term “ecosystem services” was first used in 1981 to capture academic interest, although its definition continues to evolve. Ecosystems that can be measured under this system include natural ecosystems like forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, freshwater bodies, oceans, and man-made systems such as farmland, pastures, aquaculture farms, and urban green spaces.
Why GEP is needed in Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand, rich in biodiversity, contributes services worth Rs 95,112 crore per year to the nation. The state has over 71% of its area covered by forests and houses the Himalayas. It is also the originating point of rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, and Sharada, and hosts wildlife reserves like Corbett and Rajaji Tiger Reserves. Given these attributes, the state provides a vast amount of environmental services which are continuously degraded due to various factors.
Significance of GEP
The value of ecosystem services is estimated to be about twice the size of the global GDP. This implies that the use of GEP could considerably aid in environmental conservation efforts and help mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Issues surrounding the introduction of GEP
Despite its potential benefits, the governmental decision to introduce GEP has raised some concerns. The complexity of GEP-related jargon may confuse policymakers and undermine previous efforts. Furthermore, the objective behind introducing GEP remains unclear, leading to questions about whether it is intended for simply valuing a state’s ecological wealth or for assessing its contribution to GDP. There are also doubts regarding whether the move is an attempt to claim central funds against the ecosystem services provided by the state to the rest of the country, or to provide benefits to its own residents.
Way Forward
To prevent misunderstanding and suspicion, it is suggested that the state government maintains a consistent approach focused on Ecosystem Services, which is a globally accepted concept with a robust knowledge base, rather than introducing new terms with unclear narratives.
