Perspectives on “value”

Economic

Socio-cultural

Ecological

Biological

Biophysical

Are there metrics that can be usedto reflect importance?

How feasible and appropriate isdollar valuation?

How do you address ecosystem services for which metrics don’t exist?

Valuation steps

1. Identifying expected changes in the quantity or quality; 2. Weighing the relative importance of that change.

“We are not suggesting that humans are unimportant, [only] that neoclassical economics (and its reliance on human utility values) has no place in policy debates surrounding resource allocation and preservation of the biosphere.”

From: Brown, M.T. and S. Ulgiati. 1999. Emergy evaluation of thebiosphere and natural capital. Ambio 28(6).

“No amount of tinkering with the presenteconomic paradigm can alter the logic trap ofwillingness-to-pay.” Human preferences cannotvalue ecological processes or environmentalresources since these are outside the so calledeconomic sphere.”

From: Brown, M.T. and S. Ulgiati. 1999. Emergy evaluation of thebiosphere and natural capital. Ambio 28(6).

“Welcome to Earth, home of the great women and men.

We are animals that have ideas.

Maybe cats and ravens have ideas too, but they keep them to themselves.”

From: Hitchcock, R. 2004. Welcome to earth. From the album: Television. Yep Roc Records, Hillsborough, NC.