Natural Capital
PRESERVING THE RESOURCE BASE
Ecosystem The world economy depends on a base of natural resources — our “natural capital” — that is Agriculture showing signs of severe degradation. Without improved environmental performance, future Freshwater business operations will be exposed to risks of rising prices for water, materials, and for waste disposal. Those businesses that reduce the environmental impacts of their operations, goods, and services will win competitive advantages. Protecting the long-term license-to-operate in existing and new markets depends on business strategies that preserve and renew natural habitats and critical environmental resources.
30 Natural Capital PRESERVING THE RESOURCE BASE TOMORROW’S MARKETS 31 cosystems — communities of species that Coral Reef Destruction Undermines Coastal Economies Are Fleets Exploiting Marine Resources Past The Point Of Recovery? interact with each other and the physical settings in which they live — represent capital Regional Coral Reef Area, Classified by Degree of Risk, 1998 Period of Peak Catch and Percentage Decline Ein the portfolio of natural assets that yields our 120,000 LOW Since the Peak Year 100,000 livelihoods and supports our well-being. Ecosystems MEDIUM Northeast Northeast Pacific Northwest Atlantic Mediterranean and Black Sea such as grasslands, forests, coastal areas, and rivers 80,000 -25 % HIGH -18.1 % Atlantic -11.9 % Northwest supply food, water, air, biodiversity, climate stability, 60,000 -55.1 % Pacific YEAR OF PEAK CATCH Western Central 0 %
TOTAL AREA 40,000 1968 - 1980 provide places for aesthetic enjoyment and recre- Atlantic -26.9 % Eastern Central 1980 - 1990 (SQUARE KILOMETERS) 20,000 Eastern Central Pacific Western Central ation, and process our wastes. They provide jobs and Atlantic 1990 - 1997 0 -13.4 % -13.9 % Pacific
Ecosystems Western income: in the 1990s, agriculture, forestry, and fishing Middle Caribbean Indian Southeast Pacific -0.9 % Indian Ocean East Ocean Asia accounted for approximately four of every ten jobs SOURCE: Bryant et al., 1998. 0 % NOTE: The percentage reflects the Eastern decline in the catch from the peak worldwide, five of ten jobs in East Asian and Pacific Approximately 150,000 square kilometers of coral reefs worldwide are at medium to Southeast Southeast Indian Ocean year to 1997. Zero indicates that 1 Pacific Southwest Atlantic countries, and six of ten jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa. high levels of risk of degradation; the threat is greatest in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Southwest Atlantic -67 % 0 % the fishing area experienced the -28.5 % maximum catch in 1997. In a quarter of the world’s nations, crops, timber, regions. Direct human activities such as over-fishing, destructive fishing, and pollution Pacific 0 % -8.7 % PROJECTION: Geographic and fish still contribute more to the economy than and sedimentation from human settlement, deforestation, industry, and agriculture are SOURCE: FAO, 199a and b. industrial goods. Declining agricultural productivity, the greatest immediate threats.2 “Coral bleaching” is a common coral killer and may be Fisheries are a major international industry: total fisheries catch in 1997 technology but total fisheries catch has remained relatively constant since diminished supplies of freshwater, reduced timber one of the first clear impacts of climate change on biodiversity.3 Degradation of coral was valued at US$81 billion.16 However, marine fisheries are showing signs the mid-1980s.17 Larger fishing fleets have had to continuously move to yields, and declining fish harvests have taken a ecosystems and the resulting loss of fish habitat and the decline in tourism jeopardize of strain from over-exploitation. The last 20 years have seen great less-exploited fish species and less-exploited regions as they progressively significant toll on many local economies. the livelihoods of some coastal communities and tourism-dependent island nations.4 geographic expansion by industrial fleets, intensified fishing, and improved harvest areas beyond their capacity to recover (see Agriculture).
RELATED TRENDS Nearly 26,000 plant species, Energy 24 The productive capacity of the planet more than 1,100 mammals and 1,200 birds, Population 10 700 freshwater fish, and hundreds of reptiles and amphibians is in decline. Emissions 26 are threatened with extinction.
Facts Forest Loss Impacts Clean Water, Biodiversity, And Climate Ecosystem Stewardship Creates New Market Opportunities Implications for Business