Natural Capital and Sustainable Development

This lecture delves into the concept of natural capital and its role in sustainable development. The instructor explains how natural resources, human capital, manufactured capital, and financial capital contribute to a country's economy. The discussion covers the importance of maintaining total capital over time to ensure future generations can sustain living standards. The lecture also explores the implications of discounting and interest rates in evaluating the value of resources and human capital. Through examples and calculations, the instructor illustrates how different investment strategies can impact the overall wealth of a nation, emphasizing the significance of human capital in high-income countries. The concept of net present value is used to estimate the value of various forms of capital based on their potential future returns.