naturkapital

Naturkapital, or natural capital, is a concept in environmental economics that treats the stock of natural resources and ecosystems as capital assets that provide a flow of goods and services essential to human well-being. It encompasses non-living resources such as minerals and fossil energy, as well as living ecosystems like forests, soils, rivers, and biodiversity, together with processes such as climate regulation and pollination.

Natural capital yields ecosystem services—benefits humans obtain from the natural world. These are commonly grouped into provisioning services (food, water, medicines), regulating services (carbon storage, flood control, disease regulation), supporting services (soil formation, photosynthesis, nutrient cycling), and cultural services (recreation, aesthetics, inspiration). The sustainability question is whether the rate of extraction or degradation of natural capital keeps pace with its replenishment and the services it provides.

Measurement and accounting efforts seek to quantify stocks and flows of natural capital and to attach monetary or physical values to ecosystem services. Frameworks such as the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) integrate natural capital into national accounts, while researchers develop metrics for habitat area, stock of biodiversity, carbon stocks, water quality, and other indicators. Valuation methods, case studies, and risk assessments are used in policy analysis and corporate reporting.

Naturkapital is subject to critique, including challenges in valuing complex ecosystems, distributional concerns, and the risk of commodifying nature. Nevertheless, the concept informs policy debates on conservation, land use, climate mitigation, and sustainable development by highlighting dependencies of economies on ecological assets and the costs of their degradation.