IB Environmental systems and societies 7.1C Natural Capital Notes

Natural Capital and Natural Income: Nature as a Stock That Pays Interest

1. Natural capital is the stock of natural resources, from forests and fish stocks to soil and the atmosphere.
2. Natural income is the flow of goods and services that this stock yields over time, such as timber, fish catches, clean water and climate regulation.
3. Use is sustainable only when we live off the income and leave the capital intact.

The Value of Natural Capital Is Multidimensional

1. The value of nature goes far beyond money, and naming the different types helps you argue a balanced case in the exam.
2. Economic value
   1. The goods and services we can buy, sell or use in production.
3. Ecological (environmental) value
   1. The life-support processes such as climate regulation, water purification and nutrient cycling.
4. Aesthetic value
   1. The beauty, inspiration and enjoyment we take from landscapes and wildlife.
5. Cultural value
   1. The heritage, identity and tradition that places and species carry.
6. Health value
   1. The physical and mental wellbeing that contact with nature supports.
7. Intrinsic value
   1. The worth nature has in itself, independent of any use to humans.
8. Social value
   1. The community and connection that shared natural spaces build.
9. Spiritual value
   1. The sacred or religious meaning many people find in nature.
10. Technological value
    1. Wild species and ecosystems are a source of new materials, medicines and design ideas.

The Value of Natural Capital Changes Over Time

The value of a resource is not fixed. It shifts with economics, technology, policy and society.

1. Value rises when
   1. A resource becomes scarcer, pushing up demand and price.
   2. New technology creates new uses, as batteries did for lithium.
   3. Policy and rising environmental awareness make some resources more prized, such as forests sold as carbon credits.
2. Value falls when
   1. A better substitute appears, as petroleum replaced whale oil.
   2. Regulation restricts a harmful resource, as with the phase-out of coal.
   3. Overuse degrades a resource until it is no longer worth exploiting, as with collapsed fish stocks.
3. Whale oil: a value that collapsed
   1. In the 19th century it was prized for lamps and lubricants, then petroleum-based kerosene made it obsolete and later whaling bans cut demand further.
4. Lithium: a value that soared
   1. Once a minor material for glass and medicine, it is now critical for electric-vehicle and grid batteries, though mining impacts raise sustainability concerns.

Valuing Nature as "Capital": A Useful but Contested Idea

1. Why it helps
   1. If nature has a price, governments and businesses gain a reason to protect it rather than destroy it.
   2. Costing services like pollination or flood protection can justify stricter environmental regulation.
2. Why critics worry
   1. Pricing nature can reduce it to a commodity, making destruction acceptable whenever it looks profitable.
   2. It can sideline intrinsic value, the idea that nature matters regardless of use.
   3. It opens the door to greenwashing, where firms buy offsets while continuing to pollute.

How Your Worldview Shapes the Debate

1. Ecocentric: values nature's intrinsic worth and is wary of putting a price on it.
2. Anthropocentric: accepts valuation as a practical tool to manage nature responsibly for people.
3. Technocentric: trusts technology and markets to measure and protect resources.