The concept that the natural world provides free services
for economic growth is coming to the fore now in many
studies. Bees pollinating crops is an obvious example.
Another is the fresh water which irrigates crops and waters
meadow grasses and livestock. Healthy soil is another
concept neglected by many farmers in the headlong rush to
grow more crops year after year. GREEN CAPITAL: A New
Perspective on Growth
looks at the value nature provides to
us and whether economic depression worldwide has made
businesses forget this value.
Christian De Perthuis has previously tackled the topic with
books about economic choices in a warming world, and the
European carbon emissions trading scheme. Michael Westlake
has translated his books, himself an author and having
studied at the London School of Economics. Along with
Pierre-Andre Jouvet they have here produced a detailed and
thoughtful examination of the economic and environmental
situation in different areas around the world. The period
following WW2 saw a spectacular rise in economic growth,
but they concentrate mainly on the time since 1973's oil
shocks, which saw a geographical redistribution of growth
and emerging economies like Brazil, India and China. They
also tell us that since 2001 sub-Saharan Africa has started
to rise in economic terms - however I will add the
shores of Europe are now crowded with millions of African
and Asian migrants.
Economists, philosophers and analysts are among those
quoted as the authors query the limits to the size of the
human population on 'Spaceship Earth' and set quantity
against quality of life. For all we see starvation on our
televisions, it must be remembered that at no other point
in history has the world's population been so large and so
well fed; not only that, but we have televisions. The
demographics show that in the most advanced and educated
countries the family size shrinks, and as women gradually
achieve free choices about family size and healthcare in
less developed countries the pattern spreads. Thus
increased life expectancy is balanced by falling birth
rates. We are still on course for ten billion people
drawing on Earth's resources; how to see that the resources
are shared equally?
Proponents of 'degrowth' point out that gains in
environmental efficiency are eaten up by growth; as in a
city sprawling once inhabitants get cars and public
transport, only to spend hours commuting and burning fuel
each day. World hunger is not a problem of lack of food
production but of poverty, transportation and storage. Many
people eat food that has been imported from poorer
countries. The authors propose clear, unbiased food
labelling to show the distance food has travelled and what
has been input, with all environmental and health hazards
caused by production or transport (rainforest felling,
river damming, air miles, pesticide and chlorine use)
described. Why are foods high in fat cheaper in
supermarkets than healthier choices?
In terms of environmental issues, we see air and water
quality has generally improved in developed countries and
disimproved in developing ones. Water stress has increased
sharply in developing lands and even where poor people have
access to drinking water, the treatment and disposal of
waste water lags far behind. Northern countries are
replanting forests while tropical countries are felling
theirs - this contributes to fouled water and landslides.
Biodiversity worldwide is dropping sharply as the spread of
human activity impacts on other species. Warming climates
encourage the spread of diseases and insects and dry out
wetlands that protect shorelines, while ocean stocks are
being rapidly depleted.
I am pleased a broad spectrum of views and accepted
economic theories are quoted, including the OECD, the
United Nations Human Development Programme, WWF, the World
Bank, newspaper commentators and Nobel Prize winners. To
me, GREEN CAPITAL
seems aimed at those working with
or studying economics and international business,
environmental workers and policymakers; equally,
journalists and nature enthusiasts or those looking for
investment tips would be interested. The authors have
gathered the best of past and current thinking to make
their points and suggest options we could pursue. If nature
is worth nothing and owned by nobody, like the ocean,
everyone will exploit it to death. Parcelling out fishing
rights means the new owners want to protect 'their patch'
from over fishing and pollution. I thought some graphs and
photos would improve the digestibility of the book and make
some of the points clearer. According to the WWF, the rate
of consumption or destruction of natural resources,
compared to the rate at which the planet can replenish
them, is such that we are currently consuming about 1.6
planets. What will be left for the next generation?
Challenging the certainty that ecological preservation is
incompatible
with economic growth, Green Capital shifts the focus from
the scarcity
of raw materials to the deterioration of the great natural
regulatory
functions (such as the climate system, the water cycle, and
biodiversity). While we can find substitutes for scarce
natural
resources, we cannot replace a natural regulatory system,
which is
incredibly complex. It is then essential to introduce a new
price into
the economy that measures the costs of damage to these
regulatory
functions. This shift in perspective justifies such
innovations as the
carbon tax, which addresses not the scarcity of carbon but
the inability
of the atmosphere to absorb large amounts of carbon without
upsetting
the climate system. Brokering a sustainable peace between
ecology and
the economy, Green Capital describes a range of valuation
schemes and
their contribution to the goals of green capitalism,
proposing a new,
practical approach to natural resources that benefits both
businesses
and the environment.
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