6.3.2 Other Types of Capital
There are four types of capital (financial, produced, human, and social), in addition
to natural capital, that are also essential for sustainable economic development; these
categories have a number of different meanings (Goodwin 2003).
Financial capital allows the establishment of productive activities in the economy
and facilitates production based on a system of ownership or control of physical
capital. Produced capital consists of physical assets generated by applying human
activities to natural capital to produce a flow of goods or services, whether in the
business sector, in homes or communities, or in the public sector (i.e., governments
and nonprofits). Human capital refers to the productive capacity of an individual,
which can yield a flow of services. The various aspects of human capital are inherited
to some extent; however, they must be created or acquired through nurturing,
education, training, and life experience. Social capital, which is the most controversial and the hardest to measure, consists of a base of trust, mutual understanding,
shared values, and socially held knowledge that facilitates the social coordination of
economic activity. Social capital resembles other forms of capital that generate a
service that enhances the output obtainable from other inputs, without being used up
in the process of production.
According to Goodwin (2003), sustainable development must maintain or
increase all productive capital stocks, including natural capital, which is currently
often depleted through economic production. The maintenance of human and social
capital reserves is equally important. Essential economic activities, such as production, consumption, and distribution, must be supplemented with resource
maintenance.
6.3.3 Capitalism Against Natural Capital
According to Büscher and Fletcher (2016), an increasingly popular argument is that
by turning nature into capital, it is possible to reconcile a capitalist growth economy
with conservation. The aim of capital in a capitalist economy is to extract more
money or value than had been invested. Otherwise, it would not be capital. Natural
capital is therefore inherently anti-ecological and has little to do with giving value to
nature or rendering this value visible. It is the exploitation of nature to inject more
value and seeming legitimacy into a faltering capitalist growth economy. This
strategy is not just self-defeating; it is a dangerous illusion that masks the ways in
which capitalist growth undermines conservation itself.
6 Natural Capital-Based Societies in the Tropics
219
There are four types of capital (financial, produced, human, and social), in addition
to natural capital, that are also essential for sustainable economic development; these
categories have a number of different meanings (Goodwin 2003).
Financial capital allows the establishment of productive activities in the economy
and facilitates production based on a system of ownership or control of physical
capital. Produced capital consists of physical assets generated by applying human
activities to natural capital to produce a flow of goods or services, whether in the
business sector, in homes or communities, or in the public sector (i.e., governments
and nonprofits). Human capital refers to the productive capacity of an individual,
which can yield a flow of services. The various aspects of human capital are inherited
to some extent; however, they must be created or acquired through nurturing,
education, training, and life experience. Social capital, which is the most controversial and the hardest to measure, consists of a base of trust, mutual understanding,
shared values, and socially held knowledge that facilitates the social coordination of
economic activity. Social capital resembles other forms of capital that generate a
service that enhances the output obtainable from other inputs, without being used up
in the process of production.
According to Goodwin (2003), sustainable development must maintain or
increase all productive capital stocks, including natural capital, which is currently
often depleted through economic production. The maintenance of human and social
capital reserves is equally important. Essential economic activities, such as production, consumption, and distribution, must be supplemented with resource
maintenance.
6.3.3 Capitalism Against Natural Capital
According to Büscher and Fletcher (2016), an increasingly popular argument is that
by turning nature into capital, it is possible to reconcile a capitalist growth economy
with conservation. The aim of capital in a capitalist economy is to extract more
money or value than had been invested. Otherwise, it would not be capital. Natural
capital is therefore inherently anti-ecological and has little to do with giving value to
nature or rendering this value visible. It is the exploitation of nature to inject more
value and seeming legitimacy into a faltering capitalist growth economy. This
strategy is not just self-defeating; it is a dangerous illusion that masks the ways in
which capitalist growth undermines conservation itself.
6 Natural Capital-Based Societies in the Tropics
219