While watching the BBC world news the other day a reporter said that the world squanders 4 trillion dollars worth of ecosystem services per year.
How can they possibly put a price on ecosystem services?
Firstly, were probably not even aware of all the services that nature provides. Second, most of these services are unsubstitutional. That is, we cannot replace nature with manmade equivilents.
I think a good analogy is to compare the Earths ecosystem services to a life suport machine in a hospital. The Earth is the life support machine while humanity is the patient being kept alive.
Now its possible for the hospital managers and accountants to price the machine, at say, 20,000 pounds worth of equipment but is it worth the same to the patient?
To the patient the machine is invaluable because without it he is dead and then the cost, in whatever currency you like, dollars, pounds or marbles, is irrelevant.
Humanity cannot put a price on ecosystem services because they are the life support machine for each and every one of us.
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Hi Neal
Interesting postings I may say. I wish I had available time to match your readings....
As regards to your question as to "How can they possibly put a price on ecosystem services?", I couldn't agree with you more... But we cannot deny the unfortunate fact that the decision makers are based mainly on economic figures keeping their eyes shut in front of the environmental disaster ahead of us. Money is power. And in a jungle, the powerfull prevails... Let's hope that in the case of the Amazonia, the economic benefits from conservation will be attactive enough, providing the incentives for a change of practice...
Please keep on posting your ideas!!!
Take care
Niki
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The economist E. F. Schumacher put the problem into focus thus:
"To press non-economic values into the framework of the economic calculus, economists use the method of cost benefit analysis. This is generally thought to be an enlightened and progressive development as it is at least an attempt to take account of costs and benefits which might otherwise be disregarded altogether. In fact, however, it is a procedure by which the higher is reduced to the level of the lower and the priceless is given a price. It can therefore never serve to clarify the situation and lead to an enlightened decision. All it can do is lead to self deception or to the deception of others; for to undertake to measure the immeasurable is absurd.... The logical absurdity, however, is not the greatest fault of the undertaking; what is worse and destructive of civilization is the presence that everything has a price or, in other words, that money is the highest of all values."