Introducing Gross Environment Product in Uttarakhand

• The Uttarakhand government has announced that it will initiate valuation of its natural resources in the form of ‘Gross Environment Product’ (GEP).
• By implementing GEP, it will get impetus following rapid degradation of ecosystems, which led to adverse impacts on more than 60 percent of services we get from the ecosystems.
• It is along the lines of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Need of GEP:

• Humankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by the ecosystem, collectively termed as “Ecosystem Services''.
• They include all the tangible and non-tangible assets or products which human get from nature like food, recreation, clean water, air and processes such as decomposition of wastes.
• "Ecosystem services"" is a reflective of the complex connections between the natural environment and human wellbeing. It is primarily based on the impact of changes in the supply of ecosystem services and programs to increase their supply on near-term growth of GDP.
• There is a fundamental relationship between environmental protection and economic growth.
• This can make policymakers reluctant to support environmental protection.
• The economic concepts of GDP, GNP or per capita income do not reflect the correct state of economic development of a State or Country
• Also, these concepts do not reflect on the status of the environment of the State/country impacted by economic growth.
• The loss and degradation of ecosystem assets has raised widespread concern about the resilience and sustainability of ecosystem services and the consequent threat to economic activity and human well-being.
• GEP seeks to fill these gaps in current economic growth accounting mechanisms while simultaneously providing a sustainable development path.
• It seeks to “get the incentives right” by capturing the positive externalities, by providing accurate signals to both service providers and users that reflect the real social benefits that ecosystem services deliver.

GEP:

• It was established back in 1997 by ecological economists like Robert Costanza at the global level.
• GEP is the measure of ecosystem services of any area.
• It reflects the aggregated annual value of goods and services provided by ecosystems (forests, water bodies, oceans, etc.) to people in a given region, such as at district levels, state, and country.
• It entails the establishment of a natural capital accounting framework by integrating ecological benefits into common measures of economic growth such as GDP.
• It summarizes the value of ecosystem services in a single monetary metric.
• Several attempts were made to find ways to address environmental issues.
• The term “ecosystem services” was coined in 1981 to attract academics towards this aspect.
• Ecosystem services represent the benefits humans get: Forests, lakes, and grasslands; timber and dyed; carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling; soil formation and productivity; and tourism.

Advantages:

• GEP can be applied to measure the status of ecosystem services, which is an important indicator of sustainable development.
• It is also a critical indicator for measuring the progress of Eco-civilization.
• Its implementation can help assess the impact of anthropological pressure on our ecosystem and natural resources- air, water, soil, forests.