6.58 If there are significant unmonetisable effects associated with an intervention, efforts should be made (where it is possible and meaningful) to quantify them in some other way. Significant benefits and risks that are beyond direct monetisation should be considered at the long-list stage and in selection of the short-list. Options with and without their inclusion provide alternative scenarios, which can be used to reveal their costs. This informs choice by considering whether these cost differences are a price worth paying. For example, Bateman et al. (2013)20 apply this when examining the costs of changing policy on land use when faced with unmonetisable impacts on biodiversity.
6.59 The focus of appraisal should be on benefits and costs important to the decision being considered. The treatment of unmonetisable and unquantifiable benefits is discussed further in Annex 2.
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20 Bateman et al. (2013) "Bringing ecosystem services into economic decision making: Land use in the UK" Science, Vol 341, No. 6141: 45-50, 5th July 2013. DOI: 10.1126/science.1234379.