Natural Economies

"Human beings have broken out of the circle of life, driven not by biological need, but by the social organization which they have devised to ‘conquer’ nature." - Barry Commoner, Ecologist

Protecting our ecosystems is about much more than conserving beautiful plants and animals: it's also about safeguarding human life. The world's ecosystems absorb our greenhouse gases, they provide us with food, they provide us with valuable natural resources and they contribute towards our well-being. When they fail, we fail too.

The rich industrialised world is currently living beyond the capacity of the Earth's ecosystems. We are consuming more than they can produce and polluting more than they can absorb. Ecosystems under stress can behave unpredictably, and even crash.

nef works to create economic policies that protect and support crucial ecosystems. We're carrying out research on environmental markets and finding a fair and sustainable price for carbon dioxide permits. We're also working to protect our oceans, particularly fisheries. And we'll be doing more work on how well-being is affected by the natural world.