 The bio-physical environment as resourcesArild Vatn Chapter 5 in Rethinking Ecological Economics, 2026, pp 83-106 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: This chapter explores the characteristics of the bio-physical environment as resources for the economic process. The concept of sustainable resource use is discussed, emphasizing a key distinction between a mainstream and ecological economics understanding. While the former emphasizes substitutability and maintains that sustainability demands maintenance only of the sum of natural and human-made capital, the latter emphasizes that these ‘capitals’ are foremost complements and that maintaining elements of the bio-physical system is necessary for a sustainable future. Different perspectives on human–nature relationships are explained – e.g., the concepts of ecosystem services and nature's contribution to people – emphasizing also the cultural aspects involved. Bio-physical resources are categorized along different dimensions – e.g., renewable/non-renewable and stock-flow/fund-service resources. Implications for sustainable use are illustrated by analyzing the characteristics of key resources like sun energy, fossil fuels, minerals, fish, forests as well as the issue of waste absorption. Keywords: Bio-physical resources; Definitions of sustainability; Ecosystem services; Nature; Nature's contribution to people; Sustainable harvests; Single versus multi-species analyses (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:21493_5 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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