Using the Ecosystems Services Approach to Value Air Quality

Air pollution has considerable impact on the natural environment via processes such as eutrophication of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, acidification of soils and freshwaters, and direct toxicity effects of ground level ozone. These ecological impacts affect supporting ecosystem services, with consequent effects on final provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services, and the goods and benefits derived from them. The conceptual framework of ‘ecosystem services’ is increasingly recognised as providing a basis for quantification and ultimately valuation of many aspects of the benefits we derive from the
environment.

The aim of this study was to apply an ‘ecosystem services approach’ (ESA) to value the impacts of air pollution on the natural environment. The three main objectives were:

• Estimate the economic value of environmental impacts arising from changes in emissions/concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) ammonia (NH3) and ozone (O3);
• Provide an indicative methodology for valuing impacts on the natural environment from air pollution; and
• Assess and identify research gaps with respect to objectives (i) and (ii) and provide recommendations to address these.

The study focused on a selection of ecosystem services in order to test the ecosystem services approach. Therefore this is not a comprehensive valuation of the total economic impact of air pollution on the natural environment. Instead, it is an application of the ESA methodology and demonstrates the range of both positive and negative impacts that may be observed on ecosystem services.

The economic value of air pollution impacts on these services is estimated using value transfer from existing valuation studies. The analysis is presented in broad terms at national level, with emphasis placed on understanding the main links between emissions and subsequent impacts on ecosystem services. These quantified results should be interpreted as generalised and indicative at the UK scale, rather than representative of site-specific effects.