Natural Capital Costs

A paper in Nature Sustainability has compared the economic benefits of protecting nature-rich sites with the profit that could be generated from resource extraction (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/08/land-could-be-worth-more-left-to-nature-than-when-farmed-study-finds-aoe). The scientists, involved in the study, did calculations for 24 sites on 6 continents. They conservatively estimated the cost, to global society, of each tonne of carbon as being £22 ($31). Over a 50 year period, more than 70% of the selected nature-rich sites (mainly wetlands and woodlands) were worth more, if they were simply left. The benefits included carbon storage and flood prevention. If the land was, alternatively, used to generate manmade capital e.g. in forestry or by growing crops of cereals, sugar, tea or cocoa (depending on location), they were worth less. This confirms that the costs of losing ecosystem services should be considered before exploiting new areas of land.