Christopher Siters

RPTM 220
Dr Milazzo
04/12/2024
L13 Assignment: Position Paper on Payments for Ecosystem Services

Starting with the film Banking Nature, directed by Sandrine Feydel and Denis Delestrac,

the film posits the philosophical question of the ethicality of assigning monetary value to aspects

of the natural world not directly part of (conscious) human consumption: Trees have value – for

paper, for lumber, etc. – however they also have value in the air-purifying services, as well as

cooling shade, providing fruit/ nuts, etc. that they provide and thus the question is whether to cut

down the tree to build a house or leave the tree grow because we need to breathe, eat, etc.; since

the dawn of mankind, the act of building a house (shelter) has required effort, but the act of

breathing is (more so recently) taken for granted because humans do not consciously perform

it…until there is a problem, such as a blockage in the trachea, extreme physical exertion,

extremely poor air quality, etc. The film progresses through the various factors and forces at

work/ play, both in the natural world and in the human world, exploring whether or not it is

ethical (or even possible) to put a “price” on nature/ the ecosystem services provided thereof, “…

what is the value of a plant, a mammal, an insect?” (00:01:49). Experts from diverse fields are

interviewed to give insight into the history, current situations, as well as future complications of

the financialization of nature. Mark Tercek, CEO of The Nature Conservancy, puts it best at the

beginning of the film when he says, “If we invest money in protecting nature, we’ll earn very,

very high financial returns” (00:01:22); while this is mainly focused on the use of money, it is

clear that “investment,” when done properly, always pays off.

Pavan Sukhdev, CEO of Gist Advisory, cites the “economic invisibility” of nature,

basically that the [natural] world is seemingly the backdrop on which for humanity to conduct its

business; he mentions that a similar unit to his New York City flat on 56th St, located however on
Christopher Siters
RPTM 220
Dr Milazzo
04/12/2024
58th St, is twice as much in price/ cost, and reasons that the price difference is the proximity to

Central Park (the guiding principle of real estate being “location”), and that being able to “see”

the park is a major factor, being worth $1 million USD (00:05:35). Sukhdev also cites that the

pollination services of bees is estimated at around $200 billion USD, approximately 8% of global

agricultural output (00:04:00); arguably, the entirety of the other 92% of agriculture depends on

that 8% pollination service otherwise the agricultural industry would come to a [meat] grinding

halt. Both fortunately and unfortunately, nature is incredibly and increasingly complex, to the

point where humanity cannot possibly understand every interaction that occurs between all the

(a)biotic factors. “The interactions of diverse species determine fundamental characteristics of an

ecosystem, such as whether the ecosystem is biologically productive (e.g., in the output of

photosynthesis and in the amount of living matter, or biomass, in the ecosystem) and whether it

is resilient to shocks such as changes in climate, the introduction of new species into the system,

or the overharvesting of one part of the system by human action (such as excessive fishing,

logging, or hunting),” (Sachs, 2015).

“Financialization equals the rape of the Earth,” (00:02:00). The flipside of the coin,

however, is that the assignation of value is the first step in exploitation; the film cites that “life

itself” has thus far been left out of the “economic machine.” Arguably, the closest thing

humanity has come to assigning value to human life would be the “life insurance policy,” the

amount of money a beneficiary is paid in the event of the insurance policy holder’s death. The

film highlights the fact that, in this sort of economic arrangement, species will be prioritized

based on their market value and thus is not necessarily an “accurate” way to regulate the natural
Christopher Siters
RPTM 220
Dr Milazzo
04/12/2024
world; the film highlights the “Carbon Credit Collapse” where the market value of carbon credits

dropped from $30 per ton [of carbon] down to $3 per ton (01:15:05).

“I want nature to be free...nature was there before we were and we should learn how to

protect it and that should not have something to do with money,” (00:05:20). This seems to

hearken to the average mentality, that nature is far too great to be part of the workings of

humanity, but as equally as one must consider the economic invisibility of nature one must also

consider the economic invisibility of responsibility/ stewardship. At the dawn of civilization,

humanity did not need such extreme financial incentives to protect the land, they were inherently

aware that their survival was inextricably tied to that of the environment and thus it was without

question that they must maintain order (for the favor of the Gods); humanity has all but removed

the divinity from nature and thus there is little left to respect (fear). The “free rider” problem

arises as individuals under-report/ undervalue what they receive from services that are seemingly

free and is the perfect illustration for the valuation of nature/ ecosystem services; nature does not

charge money and thus humanity has always been a “free rider.” Since the Industrial

Revolution, the human population has sextupled, and the subsequent water consumption has

tripled (00:10:23); this alone is, unfortunately, enough to negate humanity’s “free ride” pass, the

amount of available land/ water has not increased, it remains constant, and humanity is working

its way towards the tipping point faster and faster.

“The combined effect is so large that it is causing what could be the sixth great extinction

on the planet,” (Sachs, 2015). “For decades and decades, we have been trying to save

biodiversity…out of the goodness of our heart…we know that’s the right thing to do…and we

have failed miserably…so we need to find other instruments that can get us to much bigger
Christopher Siters
RPTM 220
Dr Milazzo
04/12/2024
scales to be able to address those issues,” (00:26:00). While the average person absolutely needs

to be conscious of the garbage/ waste they generate, the number of times they use their vehicles,

etc., however there needs to be much stricter policies and regulations surrounding “industrial

production” – individuals making $40,000 a year cannot possibly create the same impact that a

multi-billion-dollar company creates, “It’s the dark side of development, corporations that ensure

our comfortable lives and causing damages we’d rather ignore…oil, chemical, and steel

industries...areas where the air is choked with carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, benzene,

hydrocarbons, metals…” (00:43:23). Much like the idea of “fines,” money has become the price

for irresponsibility, whether or not this is effective, this is the world we live in. We have the

ability to monitor species without needing to sell “stocks” to ensure their survival, we have the

ability to refine technologies and reduce the amount of resources required for production

(including space/ land) …modern humanity has more abilities than at any other period in

recorded history and yet, the only thing that is lacking is the intent, the willingness, the

selflessness.
Christopher Siters
RPTM 220
Dr Milazzo
04/12/2024
References

Banking Nature. Dir. Sandrine Feydel and Denis Delestrac. Distributor: Icarus Films,

2014. Docuseek2. Web. 10 Apr 2024.

Sachs, J. D. (2015). The age of sustainable development. Columbia University Press.

Team, I. (2019, July 25). Free Rider Problem: explanation, causes, and solutions. Investopedia.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/free_rider_problem.asp