On Tuesday, participants focused on trade-offs in national policies. In a session chaired by Valeria González Posse, Directorate General for Environmental Affairs, Ministry of External Relations of Argentina, Edward Barbier, Professor of Economics, University of Wyoming, US, presented on biodiversity, environmental economics and economic policies. He explained that policy needs to address market, institutional and government failures in order to improve economic policies for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Heidi Wittmer, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, launched the Guidance Manual for The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) Country Studies (TCS), which provides practical advice to anyone considering or undertaking a TEEB country study.

Moderating a panel session, Pavan Sukhdev, Founder and CEO, GIST Advisory, stressed the need to take into account a multi-stakeholder perspective. Bob Watson, Co-Chair of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, explained that a crucial point in the UK National Ecosystem Assessment was to include the perspectives of several stakeholders. Sian Sullivan, Birkbeck College, UK, cautioned that the economic valuation of biodiversity can exacerbate economic inequality. Edgar Selvin Pérez, Director, National Council for Protected Areas, Guatemala, discussed the impact of ethics and state building for biodiversity conservation. Valerie Hickey, Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES), World Bank, stated that "biodiversity remains invisible at the marketplace of ideas," and suggested embracing new partners, notably the private sector. Nik Sekhran, Principal Technical Adviser for Biodiversity, UNDP, stressed the need to understand what drives decision making in various sectors and distinguish between the need of business, consumers and the state, notably the finance minister in particular.

Anthony Cox, Head of the Climate, Biodiversity and Water Division, OECD, noted that OECD has developed an assessment framework that brings together policy makers and stakeholders to go through options for addressing trade-offs. Diego Pacheco, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bolivia, presented on the Bolivian legal framework for management of environmental functions in balance and harmony with Mother Earth.

Stanley Asah, Assistant Professor, University of Washington, US, presented on the role of social sciences in achieving the Aichi targets, arguing that biodiversity conservation is about human enterprise. Alessandra Alfieri, UN Statistics Division, presented on the UN system of environmental economic accounting. Pushpam Kumar, UNEP, provided an overview of the Inclusive Wealth Report (IWR) 2012 report, a joint initiative of UNEP and the UN University International Human Dimensions Programme (UNU-IHDP). Anantha Duraiappah, UNU-IHDP, provided additional details on the theoretical basis of the report, which redefines wealth as the stock of productive capital that society can use to generate human well-being.

In the afternoon, participants took part in 14 parallel facilitated roundtables, considering a set of questions for Aichi targets 1 (awareness of biodiversity values) and 2 (integration of biodiversity values into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and incorporation into national accounting and reporting systems). The roundtables then submitted their findings and conclusions in real time to a team of facilitators via a web application.