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The Value of Natural and Social Capital in Our Current Full World and in a Sustainable and Desirable Future

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Sustainability Science

Abstract

Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include provisioning services, such as food and water; regulating services, such as regulation of floods, drought, and disease; supporting services, such as soil formation and nutrient cycling; and cultural services, such as recreational, spiritual, and other nonmaterial benefits. These benefits may or may not be fully perceived by people. Most are outside the market exchange system and are best thought of and managed as public goods (the commons). Ecosystems are experiencing serious degradation in regard to their capability of providing services. At the same time, the demand for ecosystem services is rapidly increasing as populations and standards of living increase.

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Acknowledgments

Versions of parts of this chapter have appeared in previously published works with a range of co-authors. I thank the co-authors of those works and Michael P. Weinstein for helpful comments on earlier drafts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Sustainable Solutions, Portland State University, Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    Robert Costanza

Authors
  1. Robert Costanza
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Correspondence to Robert Costanza .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studie, Montclair State University, Montclair, 70803, New Jersey, USA

    Michael P. Weinstein

  2. Louisiana State University, Nicholson Extension, Baton Rouge, 70803, Louisiana, USA

    R. Eugene Turner

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Costanza, R. (2012). The Value of Natural and Social Capital in Our Current Full World and in a Sustainable and Desirable Future. In: Weinstein, M., Turner, R. (eds) Sustainability Science. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3188-6_5

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