BAU y Valor Del Ecosistema (1)

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Valuing Ecosystem ServicesPosted on January 22, 2012byVreni Hommes

Often environmental sustainability issues are so global and

abstract, that it is difficult to know what it means for me or my

small business. For example, I recently read an interesting blog on

Greenbizon about companies seeing the value of ecosystem

services and preserving them to improve their bottom line.

ow would I restate the critical importance of ecosystem services

so that an ordinary person would understand! ere"s what I would

say . . . .

Your Business Budget

#any of you are responsible for a

budget, either because you own your business or work for a

company. $ou probably have a good sense of your revenues,

expenses, and break%even point. owever, I bet you didn"t know

that you and your business are getting many services for free. $ou

probably also didn"t know that you will need to start paying for

these services at some point in the future. &hat would higher

costs do to your business" profitability!

What Are Ecosystem Services?

It is likely that you take nature"s ecosystem services for granted.

'cosystem services are services that nature provides us for free,

such as water and air purification, soil formation, pollination, and

flood control.

A Credit On Your Ledger
http://vrenihommes.com/2012/01/valuing-ecosystem-services/http://vrenihommes.com/author/vreni1/http://vrenihommes.com/author/vreni1/http://vrenihommes.com/author/vreni1/http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/08/05/200-plus-companies-seeing-value-ecosystem-serviceshttps://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUcpn5Ewa1nuRt7-x5_gJCjlYNdhby2ZNHwNUevm-CqZxF6FGrhttp://vrenihommes.com/author/vreni1/http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/08/05/200-plus-companies-seeing-value-ecosystem-serviceshttp://vrenihommes.com/2012/01/valuing-ecosystem-services/


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Globally, nature provides ()) trillionin ecosystem services

annually. *o put it into perspective + that is more than twice the

- G/in 0122.And nature does this each year for free!

-o, what does this have to do with you! If we do very simple mathand divide ()) trillion of ecosystem services by the 3 billion people

on earth . . . that means each one of you receives about (4,311

from #other 5ature every year. $ou get to put that on the credit

side of your accounting ledger.

A Debit On Your Ledger

$our business expenses could notably go up sometime over time.

*his is the result of two trends. First, the world"s growing

population is straining nature"s available resources. -econd,6business as usual7 is depleting natural resources and damaging

nature"s ability to provide ecosystem services. *his means

dwindling oil supplies, deforestation, collapsing ocean fisheries,

and so forth.

If we put a price tag on the environmental damage due to business

as usual, it is three times the amount of money lost in the 0118

financial crisis. 9nd we lose (:: trillionin natural capital each

year. *he trouble is that many of these natural resources and

ecosystem services have no man%made substitutes or, if there are,they are very expensive.

;et me give you two examples of what it would cost us to replace

an ecosystem%service.

In a region of


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In 5ew $ork oy clean drinking

water, thanks to the watersheds that filter and purify our drinking

water for free. If humans purified the water, it would cost (:%=

billionto build water filtration plant and (221 million each year to

operate the plant. In both these examples, I"m sure the extra costs

would eventually be passed onto us, the consumers.

-o what does this have to do with you! If 6business as usual7

continues to cripple nature"s ability to provide free ecosystem

services, you and your business may end up paying more forwater, energy, transportation, and food. It is difficult to tell you

exactly when and how much extra you might pay. ?ut rest%

assured, anything scarce and in demand will command a premium

price. It is a @uestion of when, not if. *hose additional costs will go

on the debit side of your accounting ledger.

Time To Develo A Sustainability Strategy

For these reasons, it is time to develop a strategy to mitigate this

risk and protect your business" profitability. If you have your ownbusiness, you are probably the company"s main asset. In this case,

your best strategy might be to 6reduce, reuse, recycle7.

If you work for a larger company, find out if your company has a

sustainability plan that outlines how it will use natural resources

more efficiently and have less of an impact on the environment. If

your company does not have such a plan, encourage them to

develop one so that they are better prepared for the resource-

scarce world that lies ahead.
http://www.pwconserve.org/issues/watersheds/newyorkcity/index.htmlhttp://www.pwconserve.org/issues/watersheds/newyorkcity/index.htmlhttps://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcThT5gl-o5afz8gtQ27IR8phc6JdWl4VcV0ayYG48suvnEK4PBGughttp://www.pwconserve.org/issues/watersheds/newyorkcity/index.htmlhttp://www.pwconserve.org/issues/watersheds/newyorkcity/index.html

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BAU y Valor Del Ecosistema (1)