Can you cut 1 Tonne of carbon pollution out of your life?
Take the challengeThis blog originally appeared on Australian Ethical
Most people can relate to placing a monetary value on things, and if that's what needs to happen to make people sit up and think about the true value of nature, then we say – bring it on!
In an effort to place monetary value on the natural resources that surround us, BBC Earth and Dr. Tony Juniper worked in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) to find just how muchsome of Earth's resources are worth. After all, if we can't measure it, we can't manage it.
Let's take a look at some numbers of how much (or how little) humans value nature.
Human-centric resources
To put these in perspective, let's look at the value we place on resources that aren't normally a part of nature.
Humans are wonderfully inventive and ingenuitive – yet looking at the cost we place on our own assets can be shocking when you consider how much we value them above the Earth's natural resources. Seeing the comparison is shocking; why is building military trucks deemed to be worth more than the ecosystem services provided by, for example, the first ever national park – Yellowstone?
While we can see that fresh water or coral reefs which provide protection from storm surges and tsunamis are worth a lot, do you really think a celebrity should still be worth so much? Are these things more important to you? What are they really worth in your life?
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