The UK Treasury has commissioned a report by Cambridge economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta that provides a full assessment of the economic importance of nature. The Dasgupta report says that prosperity has come at a “devastating” cost to the natural world. through the failure of economics to take account of the rapid depletion of the natural world. At its heart is the idea that sustainable economic growth requires a different measure than Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Nature is our home. Good economics demands we manage it better,” said Dasgupta. “Truly sustainable economic growth and development means recognising that our long-term prosperity relies on rebalancing our demand of nature’s goods and services with its capacity to supply them. It also means accounting fully for the impact of our interactions with nature. Covid-19 has shown us what can happen when we don’t do this.”
The fact that human wealth depends on nature’s health was signalled by economist Herman Daly in 2007: “The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the reverse.”
Prime Minister Johnson and other government representatives have endorsed the report’s findings and we shall be monitoring how its recommendations are put into practice.