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DTSTART:20260312T173000
LOCATION: SEF Seminar Suite, New Commerce Building 1st Floor NCB 100, Wits University, Campus West
DESCRIPTION:There is widespread recognition of the need to move beyond GDP and growth in GDP as a measure of progress.While GDP summarises a vast amount of economic information in a single monetary metric making it easy to understand trends in the economy, GDP fails to measure many of the (non-market) contributions of nature to economic activity and human well-being. Here we develop a measure of Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) to calculate the value of nature’s contribution to people (ecosystem goods and services) and discuss the related measure of inclusive wealth as a relevant measure of sustainable development. We use extensive biophysical and economic data to calculate the quantity and price of thirty-five ecosystem services in 250 countries and territories using globally available data and standardised methods. We discuss data and methodological challenges in calculating GEP and inclusive wealth and opportunities to improve such calculations.
<br />Speaker Bio:Dr. Stephen Polasky is a Regents Professor and the Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental Economics at the University of Minnesota. His research interests focus on the intersection of ecology and economics and include the impacts of land use and land management on the provision and value of ecosystem services and natural capital, biodiversity conservation, and sustainability. He is a co-founder of the Natural Capital Alliance whose mission is to incorporate the value of nature into public and private decision-making. He served as co-chair of the Business and Biodiversity Assessment for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). He served as Senior Staff Economist for environment and resources for the President&rsquo;s Council of Economic Advisers. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2010. He received a PhD in economics from the University of Michigan in 1986.&nbsp;
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:<strong>There is widespread recognition of the need to move beyond GDP and growth in GDP as a measure of progress.</strong><p>While GDP summarises a vast amount of economic information in a single monetary metric making it easy to understand trends in the economy, GDP fails to measure many of the (non-market) contributions of nature to economic activity and human well-being. Here we develop a measure of Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) to calculate the value of nature&rsquo;s contribution to people (ecosystem goods and services) and discuss the related measure of inclusive wealth as a relevant measure of sustainable development. We use extensive biophysical and economic data to calculate the quantity and price of thirty-five ecosystem services in 250 countries and territories using globally available data and standardised methods. We discuss data and methodological challenges in calculating GEP and inclusive wealth and opportunities to improve such calculations.</p>
<br /><p><strong>Speaker Bio:</strong><br />Dr. Stephen Polasky is a Regents Professor and the Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental Economics at the University of Minnesota. His research interests focus on the intersection of ecology and economics and include the impacts of land use and land management on the provision and value of ecosystem services and natural capital, biodiversity conservation, and sustainability. He is a co-founder of the Natural Capital Alliance whose mission is to incorporate the value of nature into public and private decision-making. He served as co-chair of the Business and Biodiversity Assessment for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). He served as Senior Staff Economist for environment and resources for the President&rsquo;s Council of Economic Advisers. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2010. He received a PhD in economics from the University of Michigan in 1986.&nbsp;</p>
SUMMARY:Pro VC Seminar Series - Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) and Inclusive Wealth
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