Natural Capitalism

Natural Capitalism

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  Natural Capitalism
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  Natural Capitalism PaulHawken, Amory Lovins & Hunter Lovins developed the approach Aim is to protect the biosphere and improve profits and competitiveness Uses simple changes to the way businesses are run: advanced techniques for making resources more productive increased benefits for shareholders and for future generations.
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  Natural Capitalism Newmind-set & set of values than conventional capitalism. Main assumptions are: Environment is “an envelope containing, provisioning & sustaining the entire economy” Limiting factor to future economic development is availability & functionality of natural capital, particularly, life-supporting services that have no substitutes & currently no market value Loss of natural capital caused by badly designed business systems, population growth and wasteful patterns of consumption
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  Natural Capitalism Futureeconomic progress can best take place in democratic, market-based systems of production & distribution in which all forms of capital are fully valued Keys to beneficial employment of people, money & environment is radial increases in resource productivity Human welfare is best served by improving the quality & flow of desired services delivered.
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  Natural Capitalism Economic& environmental sustainability depends on redressing global inequities of income and material well being Best long-term environment for commerce is provided by true democratic systems of governance that are based on needs of people rather than business
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  Strategies of NaturalCapitalism Radical resource productivity Biomimicry Service and flow economy Investing in natural capital
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  Radical Resource ProductivityUsing resources more effectively Three main benefits It slows resource depletion at one end of value chain Lowers pollution at the other end Provides a basis to increase worldwide employment with meaningful jobs Results can be lower costs for business & society – no longer paying for ecosystem and social disruption
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  Biomimicry Currently theratio of waste to durable products that constitute material wealth is close to one hundred to one, system is less than 10% efficient Reducing or eliminating waste can be accomplished by redesigning industrial systems along biological lines. Enables the constant reuse of materials in continuous closed cycles Often eliminates toxicity
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  Biomimicry Spiders makesilk as strong as Kevlar but much tougher from digested flies, without needing boiling sulphuric acid & high-temp extruders Trees turn sunlight, water and air into cellulose, a sugar stiffer & stronger than nylon, and binds it into wood a natural composite with higher bending strength than concrete or steel
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  Service and FlowEconomy Fundamental change in the relationship between producer & consumer, shift from economy of goods & purchases to one of service & flow Needs a new perception of value, a shift from acquisition of goods as a measure of affluence to economy where continuous receipt of quality, utility & performance promotes well-being Focuses on relationships that better meet customers’ changing value needs and rewards resource productivity & closed-loop cycles of material use
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  Investing in NaturalCapital Reverses planetary destruction through reinvestments in sustaining, restoring & expanding stocks of natural capital Biosphere can produce more abundant ecosystem services and natural resources