Costing the Earth

Helen Harvey talks to some people who say we can’t keep leaving the environment out of our economic calculations.

The world’s economy is geared for continual growth. The world’s resources are finite. You do the maths.

Some natural resources are already running out and others are damaged – think deforestation, fisheries depletion, air and water pollution, peak oil, climate change.

The constant push to grow the economy could end up costing the earth. Literally.

In New Zealand, more intense farming is having an effect on waterways and freshwater ecosystems. More than 90 per cent of the country’s wetlands have been drained. Two out of the five species of whitebait are endangered, as are native longfin eels, which despite having the same ranking as kiwi, are commercially fished. Dams, such as the one at Patea, stop native fish migrating up the river. Rainforests in Malaysia are being decimated to provide, among other things, the palm kernel that Kiwi farmers feed to their cows.

And that list barely scratches the surface.

Taranaki Daily News