Valuation of ecosystems

World bank calls for ecosystems to be valued

"The natural wealth of nations should be a capital asset valued in combination with its financial capital, manufactured capital and human capital," [World Bank President Robert] Zoellick said.

"National accounts need to reflect the vital carbon storage services that forests provide and the coastal protection values that come from coral reefs and mangroves."

"He gave an example of coastal mangroves being cleared for shrimp farming."

"Under the proposed economic model, the value that mangroves have in protecting coastal areas from flooding and the loss of fish would also be factored in."

"People would then be in a better position to determine the economic consequences of clearing the mangroves, rather than look at [JUST] the short-term benefit of shrimp farming."

"The World Bank move comes after a UN-backed report was released at the Nagoya summit saying degradation of the world's ecosystems was costing the global economy between two and five trillion dollars a year."

OK, here I am thinking to myself, it seems to me that I have heard something like this before.

Thinking...







Still thinking...











OH YEAH.


Al Gore, "Earth in the Balance"

"The heavy use of pesticides may ensure that the grain we grow achieves the highest possible short-term profits, but the excessive use of pesticides poisons the groundwater reservoirs beneath the field. When we add up the costs and benefits of growing the grain, the loss of that freshwater resource will be ignored. And largely because we have failed to measure the economic value of clean, fresh groundwater, we have contaminated more than half of all the underground reservoirs in the US."

"Every time we consume something, some sort of waste is created, but this fact is conveniently forgotten by classical economists. When we consume millions of tons of CFCs each year, are they gone? If so, then what is eating the hole in the ozone layer? When we consume 14 million tons of coal each day and 64 million barrels of oil, are they gone? If so, where is al the extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere coming from?"


Gee, and just NOW the World Bank thinks this might be a good idea? Where were they in 1992? (Probably building dams and bridges and roads in biologically-sensitive, ecologically-fragile areas, I would guess.)