Discuss the environmental economic research of Robert Constanza

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Constanza is an environmental economist from Maryland who set out both a theoretical and practical framework to measure the value of Earth's ecosystems. He worked with other scientists to try to quantify the costs associated with duplicating all the goods and services that nature provides. These goods and services include tangible resources such as food, clean water, nutrient cycling and shelter, as well as intangible services such as cultural value, spiritual renewal, education and recreation. The results of his studies which were published in Nature in the 1990s indicated that trillions of dollars would be needed annually to supply the goods and services that nature provides to us. The question of how to quantify these things is debatable. However, a follow-up study published in Science in 2002 similarly concluded that our natural environment is worth trillions of dollars. In conclusion, these studies show that conservation is a bargain, and nothing is worth nature's destruction.