Using Emergy to Value Ecosystem Services
Emergy (not to be confused with energy) is the energy that is used directly and indirectly to make a product or provide a service. It can be thought of as an energy memory and is analogous to assessing the efforts in the past that shaped our present career (family support, teacher efforts, books, tuition, meals, shelter, etc.)
Since all goods and services from the environment, society and the economy can be expressed in emergy units they can be directly compared to assess the condition and sustainability of a system. The emergy approach provides policy and decision makers with a donor based valuation system to examine economic and environmental information to better manage human and natural environments.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development has investigated the advantages and disadvantages of using the emergy approach to value ecosystem goods and services, which are becoming increasingly rare due to the continued degradation of our world's natural environments. Although there is no consensus within academia on the rigour of the emergy approach, it continues to be applied to assess the sustainability of systems at various scales. Better aligning our valuation systems with the way that our natural environments function will help us make a transition towards a sustainable future.
