Geology Reference
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all-consuming demand which paves the way for a deeply exploited environment
followed by a shared dissatisfaction towards its degradation and depletion.
The environment and its functions then become, in economic thinking, an ana-
logue to manmade capital. Yet and as with economic capital, natural capital pro-
vides value for the services it offers. The latter tends to depreciate and requires con-
servation measures to attain it, since natural replenishment is not typically enough
to overcome its exploitation.
The origins of natural or environmental capital as an idea stem from Pearce and
Turner (1990) with ecological economists (see Sec. 2.4.4) developing it further into
a concept, on the basis of maintaining Nature intact in the spirit of the Brundtland
Commission Report (1987) definition of sustainable development: “development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”. Consequently, the environment is considered
as a stock providing flows of income and as such, it is not something that Man
should neglect and/or allow to diminish. The concept is further classified according
to the services that the environment yields as a source of goods, subdivided into
non-renewable and renewable resources and as a sink of wastes that need to be
metabolised by the biosphere. Non-renewable (abiotic) resources capital pertains
to a subset which includes all minerals either solid, liquid or sub-soil gases, fossil
fuels and industrial rocks that could be of economic value either now or in the
future.
Hinterberger et al. (1997), mirroring physicist Boltzmann words in 1892 that
“Knowledge itself is nothing but the finding of analogies”, state however that natural
capital as a concept is closer to a metaphor than it is to an analogy: “Capital is a
factor of production used by humans in order to extract useful goods from Nature.
In other words, capital utilises Nature's gifts, which are not in themselves capital”.
Nevertheless, natural capital is a useful conceptual bridge that can help
economists and thermodynamicists to understand each other. This is especially
true in quasi-static geological systems as opposed to the more dynamic biological
ones. The concept also helps to create an information system for measuring the evo-
lution of human impact on the environment, especially in relation to the mineral
capital on Earth.
Yet consciousness of environmental damage and the search for equilibrium entails
discussion, knowledge of Nature's mechanisms, science, education and institutions
to decide on and monitor a path to sustainability. This effectively leads to the con-
struction of a new type of capital, social capital. According to Smith (2004), “Social
capital describes the capacity of societies to generate trust, faith, tolerance, ingenu-
ity and other human qualities that are essential for development”. It is composed of
institutions and their quality and e
ciency that support inclusive and democratic
societies, social norms, a culture of cooperation and trust.
A broadened view of sustainability simultaneously advocates the three capitals:
economic, natural and social. However some authors like Pierantoni (2004) add
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