Can you put a price on the beauty of the natural world? (George Monbiot)

George Monbiot argues against valuing nature via concepts such as natural capital, ecosystem services and green infrastructure. He says this will mean all these things are given a price which means they can be bought and sold.

This will mean nature is privatised and speculated on financial markets. He does though acknowledge something has to change because business “treats the natural world as if it is worth nothing”.

Monbiot gives examples from the United Kingdom where he argues this commodification process is already happening. He says it’s now possible for companies to purchase biodiversity offsets while they degrade the environment.

Finally he says by commodifying nature it means any future decisions on how to use an area of the environment will be decided by market forces and not by the people who live there.

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This summary was prepared by Why Green Economy?. The views expressed have been paraphrased. See the original source for more information.