Welcome to Sustainability Today is Tuesday, April 8, 2014.

Please take out your: journal or binder, folder, and reading book.Turn off your phone, put it away and place your backpacks on the floor.

Prepare for a See – Think – Wonder

See - Think - Wonder -Connect

Daily Learning Goals

I will understand the concept of natural capital.

Progression of Learning

I will learn the definition of natural capital

What is Natural Capital? In your journals, please hypothesize the definition of natural capital.

Share your definition with your table group or neighbor and create a common definition.

Natural capital is the stock of physical, chemical and biological resources of the globe: air, water, soil, land and the biodiversity (including humans) which is supported by those elements.

ChallengesNatural capital provides fundamental life-support functions and its destruction is often irreversible or may have effects lasting for many generations. The challenge of sustainably managing and using all important natural resources is growing. Food security, the availability of clean water, the generation of renewable energy and the mitigation of carbon emissions are all examples of important concerns. We need robust, underpinning information to progress understanding and guide decision-making.

Population FactorGlobal population increases and climate change will further increase pressures on natural capital and the services it provides and it is critical to incorporate strong predictive analyses of the likely implications of these changes.

One ApproachNatural capital is one approach to ecosystem valuation, an alternative to the traditional view of all non-human life as passive natural resources, and to the idea of ecological health.

Sustaining Human LifeIn Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution the world economy is presented as being within the larger economy of natural resources and ecosystem services that sustain us. It is only through recognizing this essential relationship with the Earth's valuable resources can businesses, and the people they support, continue to exist.

ProfitsThis suggests a need to attribute value to human intelligence and cultures as well as products yielded from natural systems based on their interactions and importance to one another in order for businesses to yield the greatest profit for their efforts.

Production StrategiesThe authors propose that the "next industrial revolution" depends on the espousal of four central strategies: more effective manufacturing processes

to conserve resources, recycling materials in natural systems, an emphasis on quality rather than

quantity, and investing in “restoring and sustaining

natural resources

ConnectionsIn a traditional economic analysis of the factors of production, natural capital would usually be classified as "land" distinct from "capital" in its original sense. The historical distinction between "land" and "capital" defined “land” as naturally occurring and its supply fixed, whereas “capital” as originally defined referred only to man-made goods. It has been argued that it is misleading to view them as if their productive capacity is fixed by nature alone because natural capital can be improved or degraded by the actions of man over time.What concept have you learned that is an example of how man can degrade natural capital over time?

Tragedy of the CommonsA conflict over finite resources between individual interests and the common good.

Natural Capital

The term was first used byin 1973 by E.F. Schumacherin his book Small is Beautiful.

Read

Discussion Questions? 1. It has been over 35 years since Schumacher

posited the central tenet of his work—that infinite economic growth is impossible within a finite system. Do you believe he has been vindicated?

2. Just how relevant are Schumacher's ideas today? Some argue Schumacher was a visionary—that his ideas are as important today as when he wrote them; others say his views are outdated and no longer apply to 21st-century conditions. Where do you stand—and on which ideas in particular?

Fist to Five