Reposted from Scientific American:
Some of the world’s largest banks plan to cut credit for companies that rely on but fail to value forests, water and other natural resources
By Paul Brown and The Daily Climate
VALUE OF NATURAL CAPITAL: Banks declare food, fiber, water, health, energy, climate security and other essential services provided by natural capital are worth trillions of dollars a year. Image: Flickr/Bradley Wells
LONDON – It is not easy to put a value on an intact forest, a clean river, or unpolluted air, but that is what a group of the world’s biggest banks is attempting to do.
They have agreed that the present economic system uses and often destroys the environment without paying to do so. And that, they say, is not sustainable.
The banks are also concerned that some companies are using up natural resources so fast, with no thought for their own future, let alone that of the planet, that they will collapse. They want a way of warning them and ultimately withdrawing their credit unless the companies mend their ways.
The 43 financial institutions, including the World Bank, are setting up a working party as a consequence of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, also known as the Rio+20 summit, when the initial 39 large banks signed a Natural Capital Declaration.
Read more at Scientific American
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