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Natual Capitalism

In: Social Issues

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A ROAD MAP FOR

NATURAL
CAPITALISM
Business strategies built around the radically more productive use of natural resources can solve many environmental problems at a profit.
BY AMORY B. LOVINS. L, HUNTER LOVINS. AND PAUL HAWKEN

O
ARTWORK BY CRAIG FRAZIER

N SEPTEMBER i6,

1 9 9 1 , 3. Small gTOUp of s c i c n t i s t s w a s

Isealed inside Biosphere II, a glittering 3.2-acre glass and metal dome in Oracle, Arizona. Two years later, when the radical attempt to replicate the earth's main ecosystems in miniature ended, the engineered environment was dying. The gaunt researchers had survived only because fresh air had been pumped in. Despite $200 million worth of elaborate equipment. Biosphere II had failed to generate breathable air, drinkable water, and adequate food for just eight people. Yet Biosphere I, the planet we all
145

A ROAD MAP FOR NATURAL CAPITALISM

of those services doesn't appear on the business balance sheet. But that's a staggering omission. The economy, after all, is emhedded in the environment. Recent calculations published in the journal Nature conservatively estimate the value of all the earth's ecosystem services to be at least $33 trillion a year. That's close to the gross world product, and it implies a capitalized book value on the order of half a quadrillion dollars. What's more, for most of these services, there is no known substitute at any price, and we can't live without them. Some very simple changes to the way we run our This article puts forward a new approach businesses can yield startling benefits for today's not only for protecting the biosphere but also for improving profits and competitiveshareholders and for future generations. ness. Some very simple changes to the way we run our businesses, built on advanced techniques for making resources more productive, look only at the exploitable resources of the

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