Wednesday, 8 August 2012

Is It Useful to Cost the Environment?

George Monbiot has argued (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/06/price-rivers-rain-greatest-privatisation) that the recent UK Government obsession with working out the 'value' (exclusively to humans) of the 'environmental processes' (such as woodland, rivers and pollinating insects) is inevitably flawed as it is impossible to separate out the value of components of highly complex and integrated systems, involving many processes. I must admit that I also tend to view such attempts as reflecting an anthropocentric world view where everything is seen in terms of its benefits to humans (and, perhaps, even to certain groups of humans). I am not so sure that the entire planet is necessarily obsessed with catering for our species.  
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