Natural Capital Opinions

How Marrakech and climate demonstrations meet in a politician’s cup of coffee…

January 2019

Natural Capital academics express their discontent about the apparent ignorance of some leading politicians on the seriousness of and linkages between climate change and migration of people. It is also deplored that solely technocratic solutions for climate change seem to be considered and that there is a general lack of visionary perspectives, of a sense of responsibility towards future generations and of political will and guts to act. 

Agriculture and food: sustainable? More sustainable? Most sustainable?

January 2017

An opinion on opinions and opinion makers.

In the context of an ongoing and quite polarised media debate on the pro’s and con’s of organic agriculture, the Natural Capital Platform pleads for more holistic and nuanced stances. Only then, we believe, actual progress can be realised towards more sustainable agriculture and food systems; in which –most probably and desirably- multiple solutions co-exist and constitute a resilient setting.

Local use of local woody biomass: pleas don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!

November 2016

Large scale power biomass power stations are issue of discussion; and their actual realisation indeed needs careful and holistic consideration. Yet that discussion should not prevent smaller scale initiatives to be considered. Local landscape management in rural areas often delivers significant amounts of (woody) biomass. And if that biomass would be valorised, there is plenty of opportunity for even more and better biodiversity related to hedges, tree rows, …