Stephen Polasky

Stephen Polasky | Making Nature Count: Rewriting Economic and Political Rules so Nature Matters

Economic growth has transformed the planet with both positive (improved material standards of living) and negative impacts (degradation of the environment including air and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, ocean acidification, and climate change). One major cause of environmental degradation is that market systems reward firms for producing commodities but not for maintaining environment quality. Correcting this imbalance to properly account for the value of nature can be achieved using a variety of public and private sector approaches.