The Natural Capital Declaration, a review.

The Natural Capital Declaration (referred to from now on as NCD), a Rio+20 framework towards a greener economy, once more brings us back to the old fashioned concept of monetising "intangible assets" seeking to better price them and therefore allocate resources more efficiently, in theory of course.

It is important to note that the NCD model does not question the social values underlying the current capitalist model, i.e. maximisation of profit, it merely recognises the intrinsic scarcity of natural resources by reflecting this in terms of higher costs for businesses. The proposal highlights one of the great economic paradoxes of our capitalist model by which essential natural resources are being used at rock-bottom prices for the production of goods and services. Essentially, the current capitalist approach prioritizes short-term business profits as opposed to a long term natural equilibrium of our planet which should support a sustainable future. In this fashion, the model invites signatories to better reflect the actual costs of what is being taken from the natural environment,

referred to by the NCD as an "asset", in a way that "the private sector, governments, all of us, must increasingly understand and account for our use of Natural Capital".

There is certain "deja-vu" between this approach and the current, and highly controversial, CO2 trading mechanism, which hasn't really helped resolving the problem of carbon emissions and climate change. It has merely landed vasts amounts of money in the hands of traders and multinationals, seeking as usual profit maximization.

Interestingly, the NCD initiative asks the financial sector and governments to lead the transition to the Natural Capital model. Right now, let's face it, both players are focused in the survival of the capitalist model. The financial sector, in the brink of collapse, still in need of major support lines from governments, will not fully engage in this proposal, which, if anything, would pose a new threat to the beleaguered system they are trying to keep alive. Governments, on the other hand, are scared of losing business activity by imposing "non-business friendly" regulations and taxation regimes even with such a noble purpose as protecting the environment.

More importantly in my view, this well-intended yet timid initiative is missing the opportunity to tackle the real issue behind the current unsustainable use of our natural resources. This is undoubtedly our deficient set of values as a society. The most important task in order to turn things around is to promote a change of these values in our society while fostering the transition of our economy to a new economic model. But this change of economic paradigm will only be possible when there is a sufficient number of people, a critical mass, is able to get rid of our fears, short-termism, greed and egotistic blindness, and generally speaking, irresponsible behaviour currently common place among citizens, businesses and governments. We need to place the well being of our environmental and human beings, collectively, right at the top of our values. We know by now that at the current pace we are destroying our planet, our way of life is just unsustainable. I view this Natural Capital Declaration as an evolved, green-washed, version of the set of values and therefore, not fit for purpose.

It merely assigns a cost (how?) to the often seen as "free" natural resources in the hope that this will change our habits and overall environmental impact. The current practice of taking as much as we can of the natural resources while paying as little as possible for it, regardless of its impact in the ecosystem, has to change radically. 

I propose a move to globally promote a new set of values and the adoption of a Zero Environmental Impact policy, where every human activity has to be neutral to the environment in the long term. This means that if a given activity detracts non renewable resources from the environmental, this loss has to be compensated with a gain elsewhere. Regulation would facilitate that this is done proactively by individuals and organisations, however having a global legal framework including a taxation system

would ensure that this is actually the case. Regulation would ensure that our activities no longer detract limited resources irresponsibly. 

Ensuring a long term sustainable way of life compatible with the well-being of future generations on this planet is a change we cannot afford to delay. The Natural Capital Declaration simply is doing just too little, too late.