Words like ‘Natural Capital Accounting’, ‘Financialization of Nature’, ‘Ecosystem Services’ and ’Biodiversity Offsets’ are part and parcel of the ‘Green Economy’. They are rapidly becoming part of the staple vocabulary of the nature conservation debate. However, these expressions lack true meaning; the concepts that underpin them are obscure, and subject to ‘pick-and-choose’ interpretation by vested interests. Surprisingly, there has been remarkably little public debate about these new ways of presenting nature, despite the potentially far-reaching implications. Groups resisting the destruction of woodlands and other natural areas, which is justified with compensation in a supposedly comparable location elsewhere are calling attention to the divergence between abstract concepts and their application. This publication aims to contribute to the emerging public debate bolstered by these local struggles. It will highlight some of these assumptions, claims and arguments on which this ‘new economy of nature’ is built.
Read (60p.) : http://rosalux-europa.info/userfiles/file/Economic-Valuation-of-Nature.pdf
