An extension of the economic notion of capital (manufactured means of production) to environmental 'goods and services'. It refers to a stock (e.g., a forest) which produces a flow of goods (e.g., new trees) and services (e.g., carbon sequestration, erosion control, habitat). Natural capital can be divided into renewable and non-renewable; the level of flow of non-renewable resources (e.g. fossil fuels) is determined politically.
A stock of natural resources- such as land, water, and minerals- used for production. Can be either renewable or nonrenewable.
All environmental assets that provide ecosystem services, e.g., pollination, erosion prevention, and the absorption of emissions and pollutants resulting from human activities.
is the 'stock' of natural resources (e.g forest) that provide, or can be used to make, benefical things (wood) and services (carbon sequestration).
refers to the existing air, water, land and energy resources from which all resources derive. Main functions include resource production (such as fish, timber or cereals), waste assimilation (such as CO2 absorption, sewage decomposition), and life support services (UV protection, biodiversity, water cleansing, climate stability).
(capital naturel) The costed and uncosted environmental stocks and systems that provide the many natural materials and services upon which a country relies to sustain economic activity, including natural resources, land, water, and ecosystems.
Non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels and natural ecosystems.
Natural capital is a metaphor for the mineral, plant, and animal formations of the Earth's biosphere when viewed as a means of production of oxygen, water filter, erosion preventer, or provider of other ecosystem services. It is one approach to ecosystem valuation, an alternative to the traditional view of all non-human life as passive natural resources, and to the idea of ecological health. However, human knowledge and understanding of the natural environment is never complete, and therefore the boundaries of natural capital expand or contract as knowledge is gained or lost.
