“Nature has provided ecosystems and their benefits to us for free… perhaps because this capital has been provided freely to us, we humans have tended to view it as limitless, abundant, and thus perhaps always available for our use, exploitation, and conversion.”  (p.3)

The modern economy’s obsession with competitive consumption and endless exploitation of natural resources is at the root of the environmental mess we find ourselves in. It has forced us to digger deeper for oil, experiment with all sorts of ecologically dubious methods to secure cheap energy, cut down trees to make way for industrial-scale food production, ruin mangroves for shrimp farms and spew out pollution which has now been shown to cause extreme weather.

However, in his latest book, ‘Capitalizing on Nature- Ecosystems as Natural Assets’, Edward Barbier argues that the economy can also be part of the solution. If we are able to conceive of natural ecosystems and the various services and benefits they provide us with as a form of wealth, they could be protected. The benefit of exploiting natural assets would then be weighed up against the benefits of converting them into other forms of wealth, and hopefully, this would lead to better ecological decisions.

In the first chapter of the book, Barbier outlines the scale of the ecological problem and he then goes onto explore the benefits of protecting our environment in chapter two. He argues that “the pervasive problem of ecological scarcity results directly from our failure to treat ecosystems as economic assets,” (p.22) and our disregard for the services [purifying water, controlling floods, reducing pollution, environment for recreation, pollination, climate regulation] that the natural ecosystems provide. As they are not marketed goods, it seems there has been little effort to stop their depletion.

Using a model which focuses on land use, the two following chapters discuss the process of getting the price right to ensure balanced conservation and also taking into consideration the unknown benefits the natural ecosystem, irreversible loss and resilience. These two chapters get quite technical and I found it hard to follow in places- maths and economics were never strong points and I am quite easily put off by long equations. Even so, the use of case studies was useful here and helped highlight how these models could be applied. Chapter five also looks at the difficult situation that we found ourselves with regards to preserving natural assets- namely, that most of the important ecosystems are in developing regions where there is intense pressure to use resources for development rather than conserve them due to issues such as growing population and poverty.

The solution? It’s simple, Barbier, insists. You pay poorer nations to keep these natural assets by compensating them for foregoing the export earnings. Yet this is where the argument falters for me as Barbier talks again and again of the logic of protecting nature because it contributes to our development, health and also because it is irreplaceable but the fact remains that translating this logic into the market forces of the economy is the difficult bit. And here, he fails to deliver any winning ideas. He accepts that not only would it be expensive to put in place a system to protect natural assets but it would be a huge challenge to get economies to recognise the monetary value of ecosystem. In fact, Barbier sums up the predicament quite succinctly: “the high relative transaction costs involved in making the necessary market, policy and institutional changes seem prohibitive compared to perpetuating the same pattern of production and natural resource use.”

So, an interesting read but it doesn’t offer any insight into how we can overcome the barriers to change that the environmental movement is grappling with. I don’t want to be too harsh on Barbier for not coming up with ‘the solution’, which various summits and conferences have also failed to come up with, I just feel too much time was spent going over and over the arguments that nature should be economically valued without looking at the real issue of how this would play out in the real world. More research is suggested (as is always by academics) and although I can’t argue against that, more action on the things we do know feels like the important thing to be focusing on now. Barbier also sidelines the critique that the economy’s shortcomings, with regards to valuing non-market things (i.e. nature) is an inherent flaw of competitive capitalism which cannot be overcome by simply putting a price on nature.

Edward B. Barbier is the John S Bugas Professor of Economics at the University of Wyoming. He has over 25 years experience as an environmental and resource economist, working on natural resource and development issues as well as the interface between economics and ecology.

Title: Capitalizing on Nature- Ecosystems as Natural Assets

Author: Edward B. Barbier

ISBN: 9780521189279

Price: £19.99

For more book reviews see:

Edgelands: Journeys into England’s True Wilderness

Book Review:  I’m With The Bears

Book Review: ‘ The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change’ by Stephen Gardiner

Reflecting the Emirati obsession with flashy cars, a Pakistani man has painstakingly coated a Chevrolet Camaro with thousands of “recycled” coins worth nearly $6,000. A longtime resident of the United Arab Emirates, Tarek Javaid has put 3,000 hours into the project since October last year, using 33,000 coins and 22 pounds of glue, according to Gulf News.

Javaid told the paper that he wants to donate the car to the UAE as part of the country’s 40th National Day celebration. Starting Tuesday, Dubai residents can catch a glimpse of this shiny mobile made up of  Dh1, 50 fils, 25 fils, 10 fils, 5 fils and 1 fils coins at Al Ghandi Auto on Shaikh Zayed Road. Far less obnoxious than the solid gold Mercedes, this costly Camaro will eventually become a museum relic.

Visit Gulf News for more information about the coin-covered car, which is revving up for Guinness World Records recognition.

From climate events to marine conservation projects, it seems that green organisations in the Middle East are happy to take money from not-so-green corporations

It goes something like this. A green organisation is set up with the good intentions of sorting out some environmental injustice be it pollution or marine destruction. That green and very credible organisation is then approached by a not-so-green corporation looking to sponsor it – the financially struggling organisation could really do with the support but is concerned that it will lose its credibility.

The corporation, which has caused a fair amount of environmental pollution of its own, claims that it wants to work with that organisation to change and insists that together they can achieve more. That green organisation agrees – the corporation gets it greenwashed press release earning it relatively cheap Eco points whilst the green organisation loses its credibility with real campaigners.

It’s a tricky and universal problem facing green organisations worldwide but after receiving another dubious greenwashed press release this morning, I couldn’t help asking myself why are there so many green organisations in the Middle East sponsored by large corporations?

Unequal Partners= Corporations Benefit Most

Maybe I am being too sensitive and should accept that if we really want to fight environmental pollution that occurs on a massive scale then we need to be working with the biggest polluters- the big businesses. To some extent I agree with this but judging from what I’ve seen, the reality is that huge corporation and green organisations are never equal partners. In other words, the corporation gets what it wants from its association with the green organisation whilst the green group is unable to exert any real influence on the corporation to exact any long-term change.

I also can’t stop thinking about the fact that corporations are legally bound to do what’s best for their organisations and many have now realized that sponsoring some green organisations gets them all the ‘green’ brownie points that they want without any real commitments to instil change in their own organisations which may cost them money.

Lack Of Green Awareness?

It’s not only the Middle East that is struggling with this issue. In the UK, the ‘Climate Week’ held in March was heavily criticized for its sponsorship by organisations such as the Royal Bank of Scotland (biggest financial backer or the disastrous Tar Sands project in Canada) as well as EDF energy (who operate two of the biggest five coal stations in the UK). Similarly, the sponsors of Earth Day 2011 were also hilariously spoofed by the Rainforest Action Network for their attempted greenwashing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

However, I think the difference here is that UK environmental organisations didn’t buy into the sponsors attempts to greenwash their corporations into some sort of green-friendly companies. I wonder what the reaction would have been if the same organisations sponsored a similar even in the Middle East? Personally, I’m not so sure that we would have been so quick or willing to be critical. It seems that at the rather premature stage of green environmental awareness in the Middle East (a fact that corporations may be taking advantage of), we’re willing to take any progress what we get – even if it is sponsored by big bad corporations.

:: Image via fotdmike/Flickr

For more on green-washing in the Middle East see:

Maldives’s Floating ‘Green’ Golf Island Not So Green

Rawabi: Palestine’s Greenest City, Or Greenest Wash?

What’s Sustainable About A Green Airport: Foster + Partners In Jordan

Debunking The ‘Green’ Biofuel Myth

Global Warming Message Goes Awry At UAE Water Park

As part of their campaign to sell “green mortgages” (in other words, mortgages for homes built with environmentally friendly construction or for financing the installation of solar home energy systems), Bank Hapoalim has sponsored an exhibition of futuristic green homes along Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard.  Rothschild Boulevard is often the venue for unusual exhibitions, including an installation of trees by environmental sculptor, Dani Karavan, a few years ago.  This exhibition of 22 homes – all made by Israeli designers, artists, and architects – spans from Betzalel Yafe Street to Herzl Street.  Some houses are scientific in nature, others are whimsical, and all of them are a little bizarre.

If you can’t make it to see the promenade of designs yourself, have a mini virtual tour right here:

My Tree House by Moshe and Dafna Kastiel (pictured to the left) is a metal construction surrounding an existing tree on the boulevard.  In the artists’ own words, the design “emphasizes the necessary relationship between home and nature, even in the center of a city.”

Purchasing Group by Philip Renzer (pictured at the top of this article) is made from recycled wood and found objects.  According to the artist, the work depicts a “portable wooden house that is a modest version of a caravan-car.  The home is reminiscent of the wooden cars that we used to build as children out of found wooden parts and wheels that were removed from cars.  The house adapts itself to a modern lifestyle that necessitates constant movement, and is an alternative to wasteful, industrial construction.”

Eco-section-cut by Noam Dover and Michal Tsaderbaum (image on the right) presents not only design, but functional energy usage.  Its solar panels and wind turbines generate energy for the house, and the design also integrates greenery.

Other green designers whose works are exhibited are Brigitte Cartier (who also designed the Visitor’s Center at Hiria) and Studio Mesila.

The exhibition is on view and open to the public until May 8th.

Read more about green housing::

Is Safdie’s Habitat ’67 a Viable Model for Middle Eastern Urban Housing?

More Green Building on TED: Catherine Mohr

Tareq Emtairah’s Practical Eco-House in Aqaba, Jordan

Tigo Energy, a California- and Israel-based solar startup developing technology to increase efficiency in photovoltaic (PV) installations announced yesterday that it found its first US partner AEE Solar to carry Tigo’s Energy Maximizer System as a catalog product.

According to the company, the system provides an innovative solution to maximizing power output in today’s PV systems, up to a 20% improvement from the same PV array.

With over 25 systems installed around the world and operational for over 12 months, Tigo Energy has gathered significant data on reliability, stability and up time in real world conditions for improved energy harvest.

“The system works in harmony with current PV system components to increase the energy harvest, system visibility and operational safety of residential, commercial and utility-scale PV systems,” said David Katz, founder and CEO of AEE Solar.

AEE Solar is one of the largest and oldest wholesale solar distributors of solar, wind and micro-hydroelectric systems and equipment. AEE provides everything needed to design, install, upgrade, and maintain renewable energy power systems. AEE Solar helps engineer systems for residential, commercial, industrial, mobile and specialty applications.

“We believe AEE Solar’s 30 years of PV expertise will help introduce the benefits of the innovative TIGO Energy Maximizer System across the US,” stated Jeff Krisa, Tigo Energy’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Tigo Energy will be offering demonstrations of the TIGO Energy Maximizer System at Intersolar North America on until July 16. An analysis of real-world PV systems and side-by-side comparisons with and without the system will be available, as well as more information about how Tigo Energy can improve residential, commercial and utility-scale systems in new and retrofit installations.

To read more on solar energy in Israel, see our Solar Energy Guide.

::Tigo Energy website

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu gave up an idea to close a 1.8 billion shekel ($450 million) budget gap by taxing fresh fruits and vegetables at 16.5 percent. The tax proposal was shot down by a combination of interests representing the poor, the farming sector and good nutrition.

According to Ynet, 62% of adult Israelis are overweight or obese, and the tax would further encourage the poor to buy unhealthy manufactured products rather than fresh produce.

Haaretz reported that without the produce tax, Israeli bead counters will have to look to income taxes to possibly make up the shortfall.

Another Haaretz analysis of the proposed solution – lowering the income tax on Israel’s wealthiest while raising it on the middle class – is here.

The Ynet article, published when the produce tax was first proposed in May, looked into other options to levy on food and spoke to the chairman of the Israeli Ambulatory Pediatrics Association:

“Most western countries are discussing taxing high-sugar, high-calories products in a bid to lower their consumption. In Israel, in a questionable, destructive decision, the government is interested in taxing the healthy foods, whose consumption is vital for children’s health,’ said Prof. Mati Berkovitch, the associations’ chairman.”

(Above: Apples at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv. Photo by Daniella Cheslow)

Unfortunately, the old mattress is alleged to be holding the mother’s life savings of around a million dollars. Maybe we should think twice before tossing old furnishings to the dump?

The mattress was long gone when the elderly woman discovered it missing, along with her savings. Her daughter, whose name is Anat, immediately began calling the sanitation authorities who told her the mattress could have been taken to anyone of three different landfills that receive as much as 2,500 tons of garbage and trash per day.

Sanitation workers have been trying to help locate the mattress for the distraught women; and Anat herself went immediately to the largest site located in the “south of the country” to try to find the mattress.

These landfills have replaced the former Hiriya “garbage mountain” that used to be used outside of Tel Aviv, and now remains as a monument to how sold waste disposal (thanks to old mattresses and more) can mount up into what is now a virtual 150 meter high landmark that may even be made into a park.

Our previous article on Hiriya noted that methane gas and other “by-products” of the still decomposing garbage will be around for years.

Now, the landfills are conveniently relocated far away from major population areas, but not far enough away from polluting the ground water and delicate ecological balance of nature in the region.

Back to the missing mattress: Video clips of sanitation workers and other volunteers tearing open old mattresses have been shown on both local and international news networks all day, and security personnel has been stationed at the suspected landfills to try to prevent people from going on their own scavenger hunts.

By now though, the mattress is either buried under tons of trash or already found by unknown people with the “finders keepers, losers weepers” attitude in mind.

No doubt, this bizarre tragi-comedy will find its way to local and international comedy and talk shows such as Conan O’Brian’s Tonight Show in America.

Anat’s mom is a bit philosophical about the incident though, saying that “people have to thank God for what they have, and to accept the good and bad things in life.”

Good advice to sleep on.