Natural capital - Wikipedia. Mangrove swamp at Iriomote Island, Japan, providing beneficial services of sediment accumulation, coastal protection, nursery and fish- spawning grounds which may in turn support coastal fishing communities. At least 3. 5% of the world's stock of mangrove swamps has been destroyed in just 2. Healthy stocks of wild and cultivated pollinator species are important to support the farming industry and help ensure food security. Looked at as a natural capital asset, rainforests provide air and water regulation services, potential sources of new medicines and natural carbon sequestration. Loss of natural capital assets may have significant impact on local and global economies, as well as on the climate. Natural capital assets provide people with a wide range of free goods and services, often called ecosystem services, which underpin our economy and society and some of which make human life possible. For example, a well- maintained forest or river may provide an indefinitely sustainable flow of new trees or fish, whereas over- use of those resources may lead to a permanent decline in timber availability or fish stocks. Natural capital also provides people with essential services, like water catchment, erosion control and crop pollination by insects, which in turn ensure the long- term viability of other natural resources. Since the continuous supply of services from the available natural capital assets is dependent upon a healthy, functioning environment, the structure and diversity of habitats and ecosystems are important components of natural capital. ![]() Thus, ecological health is essential to the sustainability of the economy. In Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. In order to continue to reap the benefits of our natural environment, we need to recognize the importance of natural capital within the economy. According to the authors, the . The historical distinction between . Moreover, natural capital yields benefits and goods, such as timber or food, which can be harvested by humans. These benefits are similar to those realized by owners of infrastructural capital which yields more goods, such as a factory which produces automobiles just as an apple tree produces apples. The term 'natural capital' was first used in 1. E. F. Schumacher in his book Small Is Beautiful. Recently, it has begun to be used by politicians, notably Ralph Nader, Paul Martin Jr., and agencies of the UK government, including its Natural Capital Committee and the London Health Observatory. All users of the term currently differentiate natural from man- made or infrastructural capital in some way. Indicators adopted by United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) to measure natural biodiversity use the term in a slightly more specific way. According to the OECD, natural capital is “natural assets in their role of providing natural resource inputs and environmental services for economic production” and is “generally considered to comprise three principal categories: natural resources stocks, land, and ecosystems.”Within the international community the basic principle is not controversial, although much uncertainty exists over how best to value different aspects of ecological health, natural capital and ecosystem services. Full- cost accounting, triple bottom line, measuring well- being and other proposals for accounting reform often include suggestions to measure an . It is difficult to measure such a deficit without some agreement on methods of valuation and auditing of at least the global forms of natural capital (e. If ecologically intact, the boreal forest has an estimated value of US$3. The boreal forest ecosystem is one of the planet's great atmospheric regulators and it stores more carbon than any other biome on the planet. The economic value of 1. US$3. 3 trillion per year. An initiative of the global finance sector, it was signed by 4. CEOs to 'integrate natural capital considerations into loans, equity, fixed income and insurance products, as well as in accounting, disclosure and reporting frameworks.' They worked with supporting organisations to develop tools and metrics to integrate natural capital factors into existing business structures. The Protocol harmonises existing tools and methodologies, and guides organisations towards the information they need to make strategic and operational decisions that include impacts and dependencies on natural capital. The Protocol was developed in a unique collaboration between 3. A coherent set of indicators and descriptive statistics can be derived from the accounts that inform a wide range of policies, including, but not limited to, green economy/green growth, natural resource management and sustainable development. Introduction to Education. Entangled narratives: Competing visions of the good life (rev.). The Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities, XXXIV (1&2). Book Excerpts and Downloadable Chapters NATURAL CAPITALISM: CREATING THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION For decades, environmentalists have been warning that human. Sustainable Brands Library Top Collections. Editorial Channels The Ecology of Commerce Revised Edition: A Declaration of Sustainability (Collins Business Essentials) . Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Natural capital assets provide people. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things . A manifesto for a. If this book helps narrow the gap, it will be. Capitalism Why Capitalism Creates Pointless Jobs It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working. The System of Environmental- Economic Accounting (SEEA) contains the internationally agreed standard concepts, definitions, classifications, accounting rules and tables for producing internationally comparable statistics on the environment and its relationship with the economy. The SEEA is a flexible system in the sense that its implementation can be adapted to countries' specific situations and priorities. Coordination of the implementation of the SEEA and on- going work on new methodological developments is managed and supervised by the UN Committee of Experts on Environmental- Economic Accounting (UNCEEA). The final, official version of the SEEA Central Framework was published in February 2. Criticism. In a speech referring to a report to government which suggested that better protection of the UK's freshwater ecosystems would yield an enhancement in aesthetic value of . They are finely shredded, boiled to a pulp, heavily sweetened .. In other words they are total gibberish.— G. Monbiot. Others have defended efforts to integrate the valuation of natural capital into local and national economic decision- making, arguing that it puts the environment on a more balanced footing when weighed against other commercial pressures, and that 'valuation' of those assets is not the same as monetisation. ISSN 1. 52. 5- 3. Retrieved 5 January 2. Retrieved 5 January 2. ![]() Paul Hawken (/ World Forum on Natural Capital. Retrieved 3. 1 December 2. Natural Capital Coalition. Retrieved 3. 1 December 2. UK National Ecosystem Assessment. Retrieved 3. 1 December 2. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. Retrieved April 2. Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered. J.; Abivardi, C. Biological Conservation. Conservation Letters. ![]() Soil and Tillage Research. Biology Letters. PMC 2. PMID 1. 97. 55. 53. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. JSTOR 3. 86. 88. 12. Ini., Pembina Institute, Ottawa. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2. Ecological Economics. Retrieved 5 January 2. Yale University. Retrieved 5 January 2. We must stop this neoliberal road to ruin. The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2. The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2. Natural Capital Committee. Retrieved 5 January 2. Further reading. Blueprint 3: Measuring Sustainable Development. ISBN1- 8. 53. 83- 1. Jansson, Ann. Mari; et al. Investing in Natural Capital : The Ecological Economics Approach to Sustainability. Washington, D. C.: Island Press, 5. ISBN1- 5. 59. 63- 3. Daily, Gretchen C. Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Washington, D. C.: Island Press, 3. ISBN1- 5. 59. 63- 4. Prugh, Thomas; Robert Costanza et al. Natural capital and human economic survival. Solomons, Md.: International Society for Ecological Economics, 1. ISBN1- 5. 66. 70- 3. Helm, Dieter (2. 01. Natural Capital - Valuing Our Planet. Yale University Press; 2. ISBN9. 78- 0- 3. 00- 2. External links. Cleveland (Topic Editor). Cleveland (Washington, D. C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth February 2. Last revised July 3. Retrieved September 5, 2. Earth Economics Natural Capital Accounting Solutions Article . A joint venture among The Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund. NOAA Economics US Economic Benefits of Natural Systems to Business and Society. Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit . Restoring Natural Capital in Arid and Semiarid Regions Combining Ecosystem Health with Human Wellbeing. Natural Capitalism - Read the Book. For decades, environmentalists have been warning that human economic activity is exceeding the planet's limits. Of course we keep pushing those limits back with clever new technologies; yet living systems are undeniably in decline. These trends need not be in conflict- in fact, there are fortunes to be made in reconciling them. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, is the first book to explore the lucrative opportunities for businesses in an era of approaching environmental limits. Natural Capitalism describes a future in which business and environmental interests increasingly overlap, and in which businesses can better satisfy their customers' needs, increase profits, and help solve environmental problems all at the same time. These services are of immense economic value; some are literally priceless, since they have no known substitutes. Yet current business practices typically fail to take into account the value of these assets- which is rising with their scarcity. As a result, natural capital is being degraded and liquidated by the wasteful use of such resources as energy, materials, water, fiber, and topsoil. Implementing just this first principle can significantly improve a firm's bottom line, and can also help finance the other three. They are: redesigning industry on biological models with closed loops and zero waste; shifting from the sale of goods (for example, light bulbs) to the provision of services (illumination); and reinvesting in the natural capital that is the basis of future prosperity. Citing hundreds of compelling stories from a wide array of sectors, Natural Capitalism shows how these four changes will enable businesses to act as if natural capital were being properly valued, without waiting for consensus on what that value should be. Even today, when natural capital is hardly accounted for on corporate balance sheets, these four principles are so profitable that firms adopting them can gain striking competitive advantage- as early adopters are already doing. These innovators are also discovering that by downsizing their unproductive tons, gallons, and kilowatt- hours they can keep more people, who will foster the innovation that drives future improvement. It is a portrayal of opportunities that if captured will lead to no less than a transformation of commerce and of all societal institutions. Natural capitalism maps the general direction of a journey that requires overturning long- held assumptions, even questioning what we value and how we are to live. Yet the early stages in the decades- long odyssey are turning out to release extraordinary benefits. Among these are what business innovator Peter Senge calls 'hidden reserves within the enterprise'- -lost energy,' trapped in stale employee and customer relationships, that can be channeled into success for both today's shareholders and future generations. All three of us have witnessed this excitement and enhanced total factor productivity in many of the businesses we have counseled. It is real; it is replicable. Natural Capitalism will prepare you to be a part of it.
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