Left to their own devices, humans often make stupid choices. This is, perhaps, most amusingly summed up in the viral public safety video “Dumb Ways to Die” launched by Melbourne Metro more than a decade ago. Far more seriously, human treatment of the environment represents possibly the dumbest choice we have collectively made – and consistently been making for decades.
Economics is about making choices, as Dr Ken Henry, one of Australia’s most eminent economists and public servants and now chair of the Australian Nature and Biodiversity Foundation, told the National Press Club in a passionate speech about both the environment and economy: in a world of finite resources, we can’t have everything we want. Yet, as the landmark Dasgupta review into the economics of biodiversity tells us, humanity’s demands on nature far exceed its capacity to supply our needs (or perhaps, wants).
