Editorial overview: Leveraging the multiple values of nature for transformative change to just and sustainable futures — Insights from the IPBES Values Assessment

Abstract

Addressing the nature crisis requires systemic transformations in society, especially regarding what and how political and economic decisions are made, and understanding how we take everyday decisions that affect our relations towards nature. Underpinning transformational change towards more just and sustainable futures thus requires assessing the role that nature’s values play in decision-making across scales and how valuation methods and approaches can best guide decisions. Given the diversity of the values of nature, it is key to map out what those values look like, and how they are formed and evolve over time in relation to institutions (i.e. society’s conventions, norms and rules). This special issue draws on the IPBES Values Assessment published in 2022 and engages with key questions about the role of values and valuation of nature for transformative change towards more just and sustainable futures. The special issue presents papers that review topics about how to conceptualise value diversity and undertake valuation to guide decisions geared towards transformative change. It also focuses on how power, justice and socio-environmental conflicts intersect with nature’s values, and the role of diverse values in conservation and development policy instruments.