Did you know that there is a lot of economics surrounding the nature of how the environment looks like today? Yes, you should know because assessing the economic importance of environmental degradation has a sequence of logical steps. At this point we look at the economic, social and political incentives to slow, halt or reverse that degradation.

It is universally accepted that the environment is not a separate entity from the economy, for changes in one affects the other. Ever heard of sustainable development which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs?

Almost all the dangers of economic activities call for sustainability in the use of environmental assets. Nations need to think of sustainable flows of income that is the level of income that a nation can afford to receive without depreciating the overall capital stock.

However, one danger in this sustainable flow of income is the failure to adequately account for the natural capital contribution to economic welfare and is the misperception about how well the country performs.

This danger of not accounting for natural capital stock in economic welfare is real because current systems of measuring national income fail in almost all ways to treat natural capital as assets which play a vital part in providing a flow of out put over time.

Our economics needs to extend national accounts from not only looking at markets bad output, income and expenditures as measured in the cross national produces (GNP) concept but to rather include policy signals relating to sustainable use and management of the environmental asset.

This calls for two adjustments one of including depreciation of natural capital (changes in quantity) and other of degradation that is change in quality of the environment.

Just like the business entity needs to save enough money to plough back to replace machinery and building as they wear out (depreciate) the same is and can be true for the environment.

Savings over some measures of income like the Gross National Produce (GNP) must be greater or equal to the depreciation in the natural capital and man-made capital if the economy must pass for sustainable use and management of the environment
Proper use and management of the environment starts with you.

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