Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
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Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution is a 1999 book co-authored by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins. It has been translated into a dozen languages and was the subject of a Harvard Business Review summary.[1]
In Natural Capitalism the authors see the world's economy as being within the larger economy of natural resources and ecosystem services that sustain us. This implies that we should attribute value to things such as human intelligence and cultures to hydrocarbons, minerals, trees, and microscopic fungi. The authors argue that only through recognizing this essential relationship with the earth's valuable resources can businesses, and the people they support, continue to exist. The book has many practical suggestions for companies interested in a sustainable future.[2]
According to the authors, the "next industrial revolution" depends on the espousal of four central strategies: "the conservation of resources through more effective manufacturing processes, the reuse of materials as found in natural systems, a change in values from quantity to quality, and investing in natural capital, or restoring and sustaining natural resources".[2]
While traditional Industrial Capitalism primarily recognizes the value of money and goods as capital, Natural Capitalism extends recognition to natural capital and human capital. Problems such as pollution and social injustice may then be seen as failures to properly account for capital, rather than as inherent features of Capitalism itself.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Natural Capitalism - Mother Jones article on book.
- NaturalCapitalism.org - Published by the Rocky Mountain Institute
- A Roadmap to Natural Capitalism - from The Harvard Business Review
- Natural Capitalism Inc. - Natural Capitalism Consultancy, founded by Hunter Lovins.
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