THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

12 Plenary Sessions
The Value of a Restored Earth and its contribution to a
sustainable and desirable future
Dr. Robert Costanza
Gund Institute of Ecological Economics, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural
Resources, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405-1708.
Robert.Costanza@uvm.edu, http://www.uvm.edu/giee
The environment is not a luxury good. The services provided by intact and
functioning ecosystems contribute to human welfare and survival in innumerable
ways, both directly and indirectly. These services, and the natural capital
stocks that produce them, have been depleted and degraded by human actions
to the point that the sustainability of the system is threatened. This paper discusses
the dynamics and value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural
capital from 1900 to 2000 and in two hypothetical futures: (1) a “business as
usual” scenario and a “restored earth” scenario. The business as usual scenario
assumes continued degradation of the earth’s natural capital, both by
conversion to urban and achardt andy prince Joanne Woytek George R. Rumney,
II Serry Simpson The Ferraro y Lori L. Winter jmiller Beverly Floyd prof.
Sergio Vetrella Dr. Comp In addition the RE scenario assumes changes in
management of the remaining agricultural, urban, and heavily managed natural
systems to an adaptive management regime that is focused on maximizing
ecosystem services while also enhancing agricultural productivity and urban
quality of life. The social benefit-cost ratio of investing in a restored earth is estimated
to be at least 100 to 1, and probably much higher. The RE scenario is
also shown to provide a significantly higher sustainable quality of life than the
BU scenario. Some paths to achieving the RE scenario are briefly discussed.