What’s the environment got to do with the economy?
We’ve not done a particularly good job at treating the environment well in the past few centuries. We’ve moved from a world in which people produced just enough for themselves and their families, to one where half the food in the world gets wasted. As economies went through industrialization, moving from relying on agriculture to manufacturing, we seem to have forgotten that just because we’re able to produce something quicker, cheaper, and bigger, doesn’t mean we have to.
What do economists have to say about the environment?
It’s really hard for economists to agree on how to deal with the environment because they’re undecided as to what our relationship to it actually is. Some say we can treat it like any other resource, by pricing it in the free market. Others say that the market isn’t great at recognizing long-term value, and we need better techniques. But some think putting a price on nature is impossible. They see the economy as a small part of the wider ecosystem, not the other way round.
Can we put a price on the planet?
Nowadays, we can buy everything from education to healthcare to clean air. Some suggest pricing the environment, too. If we divide it up into parts that are sold to individuals or companies, they’ll take care of it better. Similarly, if we use subsidies to give people an incentive not to pollute, it’ll be in their interest to transition to low-carbon production techniques. Sadly, it’s not that simple — it’s not easy to divide nature into easily price-able parts, and even if we did, the value of nature can’t necessarily be expressed in monetary terms.
What can each of us do to make sure our economic choices don’t damage the environment?
It all sounds a bit grim, but there is actually a lot that could be done to make our economies and the environment work together a little better. From individual decisions we make on a day to day basis like driving a car vs taking a bicycle, to larger scale solutions like pushing for our governments to adopt more renewable energy sources, there’s a lot we can do as individuals to align our own economic interests with what’s best for the planet.