The Accounting of the Natural World

[unspeakablehorror]

It occurs to me that a lot of the vital studies done to understand the flow of resources, while many times utilizing advanced scientific techniques, are essentially, at their core, accountancy.  Like the study I mentioned in my earlier post today about the aquifers.  That's all about measuring the inflows and outflows of water.  Climate change studies do that too, via measurement of greenhouse gases and other related indicators.  Maybe one of the problems in our world is that there are too many accountants focused on money and not enough focused on the environment.

Comments

[tobermoriansass]

There's actually some interesting work being done in this field but from the point of view of calculating ecological debt, externalities and ecosystems services use. And I definitely really appreciate the work Alf Hornborg and Lundt University's department of Human ecology have done in calculating inequality as unequal energy flows. But you're right - there's not enough very solid work being done on natural resource accounting. Some people are doing it, but I really detest the natural capital movement for how it instrumentalizes what is a free public good as a resource - not bad in its way, but when it's coopted by guys like Credit Suisse for "research", you know it's a bad scene and I don't want green accountancy to turn into a tool for enclosing and colonizing the last of our global commons.

...which is a tangent to your post but tl;dr I think you might find some interesting stuff in the field of ecological debt and ecosystems services studies?

[unspeakablehorror]

Ah, yes, that does sound interesting to me! I'll have to look that up!

And it's not surprising to me that people who look at these resources and see only 'natural capital' are not really looking for ways heal our broken planet, but at ways to further exploit it (and other people) while calling themselves environmentalists. And these are also exactly the type of people who would be willing to fudge their numbers and straight-up lie as long as the results are benefiting them.

Enclosure of the commons is an actively malicious act and I think something that desperately needs reversal.There are ways to establish systems to ensure the protection of the environment but also give the people who need it most access to the resources it provides. I don't think we can address the problems our environment faces without also addressing wealth inequality and oppression. The people with the wealth and power have been actively destroying our world and we have no reason to trust them any further with it just because they put a shiny green sticker on their exploitation.