3. From Chapter 20, in 1997, the ecological economist Robert Costanza and his as
ID: 235417 • Letter: 3
Question
3. From Chapter 20, in 1997, the ecological economist Robert Costanza and his associates published a report titled The Value of the World’s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital. They estimated that if all the ecosystem services provided worldwide had to be paid for, the cost would average $33 trillion per year with a range from $16 trillion to $54 trillion. In that same year the global gross national product (GNP) was $18 trillion.
(a) What is meant by ecosystem or ecological services? Give three specific examples and identify which United Nations organization might oversee these services.
(b) Define the term valuation. What would the worldwide consequences be if the world actually had to pay for ecosystem services and natural capital?
(c) Explain how this report could be used to develop a sustainable economic system.
(d) Which environmental worldview is most consistent with environmental economics? Explain.
Explanation / Answer
a) An ecosystem is an active composite of living things like plant, animal, and microorganism communities and the nonliving environment, that cooperating as a functional unit. Humans are an essential part of ecosystems. A definite ecosystem has strong communications between its components and weak interactions across its boundaries.
Ecosystem/ecological services are the benefits people obtain from these ecosystems. Some of these ecological services are pollinations by bees, absorption and filtering of chemicals out of ground water, and detritivores converting animal waste into organic material that is used by primary producers. The WHO would supervise pollination, UNEP would manage the filtering out chemicals, and UNEP would direct the habitat of the detritivores.
b) Valuation is a method when economic values are placed on indefinable benefits supplied by nature. If the world really had to pay for these services, we would not be able to meet the expense of anything else.
c) This report could help planners to recognize the ecosystem services and natural capital to attain a sustainable economic system.
d) Environmental Economics deal with the failure of free market systems to assign the resources as well-organized as they can to make the benefit of the large amount of people. The Anthropocentric Worldview is consistent with environmental economics because it supposes that humans have inherent value and nature has active value that supplies for our needs.
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