In a blog post, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) today called attention to a new paper for Science co-authored by four OSTP officials that it says lays out “a vision in which all U.S. federal policy routinely considers impacts on and benefits of nature across all policies, not only those focused on natural resource management or conservation.” In doing so, OSTP noted that this could mean “accounting for benefits provided by nature in economic benefit-cost analyses to promote the more efficient use of tax-payer dollars and improved outcomes.”
Co-author and OSTP Deputy Director for Environment and Climate Jane Lubchenco called the incorporation of nature into strategic policy decisions across domains “both good governance and the pathway to a more sustainable, thriving planet,” adding that accounting for nature in all aspects of policymaking is a “key step” in advancing evidence-based policy supported by science.
In addition to Lubchenco and individuals associated with the University of California, Santa Cruz, Yale School of the Environment, and Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability, the paper was co-authored by OSTP Asst. Director for Ocean, Polar, and National Security Hila Levy, OSTP Director of the National Nature Assessment Phillip Levin, and OSTP Chief of Staff of the Climate and Environmental Division and Assistant Director for Climate Resilience Laura Petes.
