Developing Water Markets

Jennifer Morris, Conservation International

Water markets can be more challenging to monetize than carbon markets, according to Jennifer Morris, Executive VP of Conservation International. Morris says that to drive watershed service transactions, market mechanisms must provide "financial incentives to people who manage land to protect their watershed." Due to deforestation in China, and the resulting siltation and sedimentation, dam operators in that country are developing new models for water markets, in concert with Conservation International and interested corporate partners.