Explain the research and findings of Robert Costanza. Identify one criticism of this research

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Costanza 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, and shelter, as well as intangible services such as recreational opportunities and spiritual renewal. The results of Costanza's study, published in Nature in the 1990s, indicated that, annually, trillions of dollars would be needed to supply the goods and services that nature provides to us. The question of how to quantify these things is debatable. Some argued that arguing for conservation purely on economic grounds risks not being able to justify conservation if there is not a clear economic benefit, while others argued that we cannot even realistically put a price tag on such ecosystem services as clean air and water. However, a follow-up study published in Science in 2002 similarly concluded that our natural environment is worth trillions of dollars, showing that conservation is a bargain and that nothing is worth nature's destruction.