Exhausting the Natural Capital is a Dangerous Trend for the Sustainability of the Socio-Economic System

Abstract

Natural capital is the collective term both for the products of the natural assets of our planet and for the ecosystemic services that result from the interaction of these assets, services that support life on our planet. In fact, the ecosystemic services resulting from the activity of the Natural Capital constitute the fundament of the entire activity of the socio-economic system and include food, water, energy, climate security and other services essential for all. Unfortunately, often, the value of the natural capital was forgotten in the traditional methods used for measuring economic performance. This non-recognition of the importance of the natural capital has, in the end, a damaging effect on the ecosystems, biodiversity and natural environments in general and can trigger a loss of the essential services of the ecosystems. The value of the natural capital becomes acknowledged increasingly more as critical for economic success and economic sustainability. Many decision-makers and organizations have begun to focus on the way value can be attributed with precision to the natural capital and in connection to economic policies. The result hoped for is a better decision-making to manage, preserve and improve our natural environments. Moreover, the identification and quantification of the natural capital and of the ecosystemic goods and services offers a supplementary economic justification for the efficient management of the natural resources. As the scientific research has noticed and supports increasingly more, the attribution of value to the natural capital and to the ecosystemic services can be a positive step in the prevention of their exhaustion by promoting a better understanding of the true economic value of the ecosystemic services and by providing economic tools able to consider this value adequately.