Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Boxes
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Ecological scarcity as an economic problem
- 2 Ecosystem services and ecological landscapes
- 3 The basic natural asset model
- 4 Spatial variation in ecosystems
- 5 The open economy
- 6 Ecological collapse
- 7 The way ahead
- 8 Policies in the Age of Ecological Scarcity
- Index
- References
8 - Policies in the Age of Ecological Scarcity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Boxes
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Ecological scarcity as an economic problem
- 2 Ecosystem services and ecological landscapes
- 3 The basic natural asset model
- 4 Spatial variation in ecosystems
- 5 The open economy
- 6 Ecological collapse
- 7 The way ahead
- 8 Policies in the Age of Ecological Scarcity
- Index
- References
Summary
The rationales for conserving natural capital are several. It accounts for the lack of substitutability for many environmental functions, for uncertainty, and for resilience. It is consistent with many equity concerns, especially in the poorer parts of the world.
(Pearce et al. 1989, p. 48)Introduction
Chapter 1 pointed to a number of trends in global ecosystem degradation and loss that indicate that ecological scarcity is becoming a major challenge for the world. Given the scale of the problem, it is in fact possible to characterize the current global era as the “Age of Ecological Scarcity” (Barbier 2011).
This final chapter explores the major policy challenges that need to be overcome in order to avert the worsening global ecological scarcity problem. These challenges fall into three areas.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Capitalizing on NatureEcosystems as Natural Assets, pp. 269 - 310Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011