Environmental economists race to calculate nature’s true economic value before it’s lost forever

As countries pursue rapid economic development through urban expansion and fossil fuel extraction, they’re paying a hidden cost that rarely appears on any balance sheet: the systematic destruction of natural ecosystems. Now, a growing field of environmental accountants is working to quantify exactly what we’re losing when forests disappear, waterways become polluted, and wildlife populations collapse.

These experts, known as environmental economists, are developing sophisticated methods to assign dollar values to nature’s services—everything from carbon sequestration by forests to water filtration by wetlands. Their goal is to make the invisible visible: showing governments and businesses the true economic impact of environmental destruction. For instance, a single wetland might provide millions of dollars worth of flood protection, water purification, and storm surge defense, yet traditional accounting systems treat its destruction as economically neutral or even beneficial for development.

The urgency of this work has intensified as climate change and biodiversity loss accelerate. When policymakers can see that protecting a watershed saves more money than replacing its services with infrastructure, or that intact coral reefs provide billions in tourism revenue and coastal protection, conservation suddenly becomes an economic imperative rather than just an environmental ideal.

However, the challenge lies in convincing markets and governments to adopt these new accounting methods. While some countries have begun incorporating natural capital into their national accounts, most economic decisions still ignore nature’s contributions entirely. The race is on to establish these valuations before critical ecosystems cross irreversible tipping points, taking their economic benefits—and our dependence on them—with them.