Natural capital refers to the resources available for human exploitation including those in the biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere. Some natural capital such as timber and food crops is renewable as it can regenerate quickly through natural processes like photosynthesis. Other resources like solar and geothermal energy are replenishable through abiotic processes. Fossil fuels and minerals are non-renewable as they cannot be replaced within human timescales. Natural capital provides both goods like timber and services like climate stabilization. Sustainability requires balancing the exploitation of renewable resources with their regeneration rates to ensure their availability for future generations.

1. Topic 3.2
Natural Capital

2. Natural Capital
• The resources available for exploitation by humans
• These exist in the biosphere, the lithosphere and the
atmosphere
• Some natural capital is renewable and replenishable and
therefore in theory can be exploited indefinitely
• However, other types of natural capital are non-renewable
• Natural capital produces natural income in the form of
goods and services
– Goods are marketable commodities such as timber and grain
– Services are functions such as flood protection, climate
stabilisation and maintenance of soil fertility
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWOAj7YNLq
4

3. Natural Capital
• Renewable
– Living things and ecosystems that can be replaced by
natural productivity (photosynthesis) as quickly as they are
used up (yield = productivity); e.g. timber, food crops
• Replenishable
– Non-living resources which are continually replaced by
natural processes. They depend on abiotic processes for
replenishment; e.g. solar energy, geothermal energy,
ozone, water
• Non-renewable
– Natural resources which cannot be replaced (at least on a
timescale close to that at which they are used). They
include fossil fuels and minerals; e.g. fossil fuels, nuclear
energy sources, helium

4. Natural Capital
PRODUCERS CONSUMERS
THE ENVIRONMENT
Waste for
recycling
Natural capital
(including non-
renewables)
Natural income
(goods and services)
Financial gain

5. Non-renewable Natural Capital
• These are not renewable or
replenishable and therefore will
eventually run out
• It is not yet clear how long the
Earth’s fossil fuels will last (new
discoveries are being made and
new methods of exploitation are
being developed)
• It is clear there is a need to
minimise use, minimise waste,
recycle, reuse and replace fossil
fuels
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=7FSklijcPHg
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=jsV_3yBDXXI

6. Environmental Philosophies
• Technocentric
– A view that shortages of natural capital will always be
overcome by advances in technology
– Tends to predominate in MEDCs (where people are more
remote from nature)
• Ecocentric
– A view that shortages in natural capital are best approached
by limiting the use of non-renewable resources and switching
to renewables
– Tends to predominate in LEDCs (where people are in closer
contact with nature)

7. The Dynamic Nature of Natural Capital
• The value and status of natural capital changes over
time (it is dynamic)
• As new technologies are developed, resources which
once had little value may become valuable
commodities (e.g. before the advent of the combustion
engine oil (bitumen) was used primarily only as
waterproofing for houses and boats; before the nuclear
age uranium was not seen as having value)
• Conversely, as old technologies are superseded,
resources may also lose their value (e.g. flint used to
make stone axes was superseded when metal tools
were developed)

8. The Intrinsic Value of Natural Capital
• Economic value
– The monetary value gained by producers and paid by
consumers
• Ecological value
– Services provided by nature independently of economic
value (e.g. prevention of soil erosion, carbon sequestration
and oxygen production by photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation)
• Aesthetic value
– The appreciation of the beauty of nature
• Recreational value
– Holiday destinations and places to relax or use for sports etc.
http://edroness.blogspot.mx/2013/10/putting-value-on-nature.html

9. The Intrinsic Value of Natural Capital
• Consumptive use
– Harvesting (timber, crops, animals, medicines etc.)
• Non-consumptive use
– Recreational use and cultural activities
• Indirect use
– Benefits provided by the ecosystem itself (water filtration,
prevention of erosion etc.)
• Optional use
– Potential future use – by your generation (option value), or
future generations (bequest value)
• Non-use (existence use)
– Aesthetic value
There is a lot of debate about how we can find ways to give value to nature. You could
argue it is actually impossible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zuJdY_Wrng

10. Sustainability
• The rate at which replenishable and
renewable natural capital may be exploited to
allow regeneration
• Long-term harvesting or release of pollution
should not exceed rates of natural capital
regeneration
• During processing to produce goods,
sustainability should be applied at each level
of the supply chain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmnWIOgc39k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5r4loXPyx8

11. Sustainability
• Sustainable Development
– ‘Development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs’
(UN World Commission on Environment and Development)
• This concept incorporates economic and social factors
together with time
• The problem is your idea of what sustainable
development is changes with your viewpoint. An
economist’s idea of it would be different to an
environmentalist’s (some might actually argue that
sustainability and development are actually
contradictions in terms)

12. Sustainability
• Not-possible?
– People are not prepared to accept a reduction in their standard of
living
– Non-renewable resources are running out
– LEDCs are home to 80% of the world’s population and are using
increasing amounts of natural capital
– The oil lobby is very powerful (especially in the U.S.)
– Some problems are local in nature while others are global
• Possible?
– Use of renewable resources is increasing
– Renewable technologies are become cheaper and more accepted
– We may have no choice in the future but to embrace an economy
based on renewable and replenishable resources
The choices we make are largely dependent on our environmental philosophies

13. UN Sustainability Summits
• Stockholm Summit, 1972
– Considered threats to habitats and species and set targets for
protection of natural resources. UNEP was established.
• Rio Earth Summit, 1992 (Agenda 21)
– Centred on the conservation of biodiversity. Agenda 21 set
targets for sustainable development in the 21st Century
• Kyoto Summit, 1997
– Set targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and
the introduction of renewable energy sources (by 2012).
Ultimately this was postponed at the Dohar Summit (2012)
• Johannesburg Summit, 2002
– Largely considered the obstacles to sustainable development
posed by global poverty, together with social issues and
access to safe drinking water and sanitation

14. Calculations
• Sustainable yield (SY) is calculated as a rate of increase of
natural capital that can be achieved without depleting the
original stock
SY = annual growth and recruitment - annual death and emigration
• Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is the largest harvest that
can be taken from a stock over an indefinite period without
decreasing the population. MSY does not occur at the
carrying capacity, but at the point at which population is
growing at its fastest rate

15. Calculations
• MSY occurs at the point where population is
increasing at its maximum rate
Carrying capacity
MSY
Above MSY, yield is reduced by
competition for resources
Below MSY, yield is decreased due
to the small population

16. Questions
1. Define the term Natural Capital
2. Define the terms Renewable, Replenishable
and Non-renewable
3. Explain why resources can be considered to
be dynamic in nature
4. Discuss the concept of sustainable
development
5. Discuss two opposing environmental
philosophies