A framework for applying economic theory to the marine environment

A well-functioning marine environment underpins economic activity, public welfare and long-term environmental resilience, yet its full contribution is often missing from policy appraisal. This presentation explores how applied economic theory and a natural capital approach can make those benefits more visible, measurable, and useful for marine decision-making.

Drawing on three recent projects in England, the presentation examines how economic methods can be applied to the marine environment across different decision contexts. Expenditure and income-based approaches trace how marine wildlife and recreation support local economies; visitor surveys and household choice experiments reveal the values people place on coastal sites and species recovery; and a natural capital framework organises this evidence for use in policy appraisal.

From these studies, it is clear that benefits from the marine environment are wider, more varied, and more policy-relevant than is often captured in standard assessments. By combining market evidence, welfare values, and a structured account of ecosystem dependencies, the projects show how economic analysis can improve decisions about conservation, sustainable use, and the trade-offs involved in achieving good environmental status.

About Mark Collar

Mark is an Environmental Economist and Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland). His work includes the generation and use of natural capital valuation evidence in the domestic and international conservation policy cycle, from rationale and appraisal to monitoring and evaluation. Using market and non-market valuation approaches, Mark has experience leading primary valuation research projects to support policy in marine conservation. He has also led large evidence reviews to support economic analysis of the actions required to deliver the targets under Multilateral Environmental Agreements (Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework; Ramsar Convention).