Tag: Natural Capital

“Facing structural difficulties derived from the climate crisis from the perspective of the peoples”

At short notice I have just spoken at the 1st thematic debate in a series of discussions leading up to a World Meeting of Peoples for Our Mother Earth and Against the Climate Crisis 2021. The online meeting was organised by The Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the Social Organizations of the Pact … Continue reading “Facing structural difficulties derived from the climate crisis from the perspective of the peoples” →

The Dasgupta Interim Review on the Economics of Biodiversity – Feedback

On 30th April 2020, an Interim Report on The Economics of Biodiversity was published by the UK government. Commissioned by UK Treasury and led by economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, the report is shorthanded as 'The Dasgupta Review', following the  tradition established by the 2014 'Stern Review' on The Economics of Climate Change authored by … Continue reading The Dasgupta Interim Review on the Economics of Biodiversity – Feedback →

The balance sheet of nature? On making monetary value of UK ‘natural capital’

… capitalism cannot be fully attained or practiced [sic] until... we have an accurate balance sheet [that places] natural capital on the balance sheets of companies, countries, … [and] the world. A global consolidation of ecological accounting, and particularly natural capital accounting, aims to make nature values visible both as stocks of ‘natural capital’ and … Continue reading The balance sheet of nature? On making monetary value of UK ‘natural capital’ →

Nature 3.0 – Will blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies save the planet?

First there was Nature. Sometimes an Edenic garden, whose fruitfulness we live with in peace and reciprocity; sometimes a vast wilderness to be feared, tamed or worshiped. But always a lively mesh of entities, whose magnificent diversity is now threatened by a single biological species – Homo sapiens. Then came Nature 2.0. A material world … Continue reading Nature 3.0 – Will blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies save the planet? →

On ‘natural capital’ and ‘ecosystem services’ in the proposed Nature and Well-being Act (The Wildlife Trusts and RSPB)

This post responds to an invitation to add my views to a comments thread regarding the  'Green Paper' for A Nature and Well-being Act (hereafter 'Green Paper'), published in 2014 by the The Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB. The comments thread makes reference to work of mine by the anonymous 'todaysmysteryguest’, writing on Jan 8th … Continue reading On ‘natural capital’ and ‘ecosystem services’ in the proposed Nature and Well-being Act (The Wildlife Trusts and RSPB) →

‘Ecosystem services’
 and the role of the market:
 a concerned view

Notes from an invited talk given as part of a Public Dialogue on the UK's National Ecosystem Assessment, held at the Royal Society London in 2014.   There are a range of different ways of representing the relatively new term and concept of ‘ecosystem services’. Here's one: As you can see, in this image ‘cultural … Continue reading ‘Ecosystem services’
 and the role of the market:
 a concerned view →

At the Edinburgh Forums on Natural Capital and Natural Commons, 2013

From disavowal to plutonomy, via ‘natural capital’? In Edinburgh over the next two days the inaugural World Forum on Natural Capital claims that 'a revolution is taking place in how businesses and governments account for natural capital', and that 'there has never been a better time for senior decision makers to exercise leadership for the … Continue reading At the Edinburgh Forums on Natural Capital and Natural Commons, 2013 →

The natural capital myth

The Making of ‘Natural Capital’ Increasingly, it seems, nature is actually money. The contemporary moment of global crisis in both ecological and economic spheres is also the moment wherein ‘Nature’ is being refashioned as ‘Natural Capital’. Key interlocking elements thus are joining the previously rather separate domains of economics, business and finance, with ecology, environmentalism and conservation. … Continue reading The natural capital myth →

Plenary Panel with Pavan Sukhdev, at the 2013 Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity

In the summer of 2013, and following my authoring of Biodiversity Conservation, Financialisation and Equity: Some Currents and Concerns for the Third World Network (TWN), I was nominated by TWN to speak at the 7th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity (27-31 May 2013) on what was termed a ‘high-level’ Plenary Panel on ‘Trade-offs in National Policies’. … Continue reading Plenary Panel with Pavan Sukhdev, at the 2013 Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity →

Biodiversity conservation, financialisation and equity: some currents and concerns

 1. On elephants and economics In 1993, Australian ecologist Graeme Caughley published a paper on elephant conservation and market reasoning in Conservation Biology. Responding to proposals that clear ownership designations and the ability to sell harvested ivory on a free market would incentivise the conservation of African elephants, he showed that this approach might … Continue reading Biodiversity conservation, financialisation and equity: some currents and concerns →

Offsetting nature

'Mike Hannis and Sian Sullivan explore the strange world of biodiversity offsets and habitat banking', for The Land Magazine. Land use planning is a key arena for the spectacles of localism and marketisation being staged by our self-proclaimed greenest government ever. The new “presumption in favour of sustainable development” aims to encourage housebuilding and other … Continue reading Offsetting nature →

The environmentality of ‘Earth Incorporated’

In the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, the villainous business tycoon Domenic Greene, makes a moving (and familiar) speech to potential company sponsors at a spectacularly glamorous, environmental fund-raising gala in Bolivia. He states: We are in a spiral of environmental decline. Since 1945 17% of the planet's vegetated surface has been irreversibly degraded. … Continue reading The environmentality of ‘Earth Incorporated’ →

Green capitalism, and the cultural poverty of constructing nature as service provider

“People differ not only in their culture but also in their nature, or rather, in the way they construct relations between humans and non-humans.” Loss We hear a lot these days about loss. In April 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that banks, insurance instruments and pension funds have ‘lost’ some US $4.1 trillion … Continue reading Green capitalism, and the cultural poverty of constructing nature as service provider →

On bioculturalism, shamanism and unlearning the creed of growth

There is an ancient Greek myth that seems to be a potent parable for our times. Demeter, goddess of grain, fertility and the rhythm of the seasons, appears as a mortal priestess to the imperious King Erysichthon, suggesting he refrain from cutting the trees of a sacred grove planted in celebration of all that she … Continue reading On bioculturalism, shamanism and unlearning the creed of growth →