Editing Resource depletion (section)

== Depletion accounting ==
{{main|Depletion (accounting)}}

In an effort to offset the depletion of resources, theorists have come up with the concept of depletion accounting. Related to [[green accounting]], depletion accounting aims to account for nature's value on an equal footing with the market economy.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last=Boyd|first=James|date=15 March 2007|title=Nonmarket benefits of nature: What should be counted in green GDP?|journal=Ecological Economics|volume=61|issue=4|pages=716–723|doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.06.016|bibcode=2007EcoEc..61..716B }}</ref> Resource depletion accounting uses data provided by countries to estimate the adjustments needed due to their use and depletion of the [[natural capital]] available to them.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Vincent|first=Jeffrey|date=February 2000|title=Green accounting: from theory to practice|journal=Environment and Development Economics|volume=5|issue=1 |pages=13–24|doi=10.1017/S1355770X00000024|bibcode=2000EDevE...5...13V |s2cid=155001289}}</ref> Natural capital refers to natural resources such as mineral deposits or timber stocks. Depletion accounting factors in several different influences such as the number of years until resource exhaustion, the cost of resource extraction, and the demand for the resource.<ref name=":5" /> Resource extraction industries make up a large part of the economic activity in [[Developing country|developing countries]]. This, in turn, leads to higher levels of resource depletion and [[environmental degradation]] in developing countries.<ref name=":5" /> Theorists argue that the implementation of resource depletion accounting is necessary in developing countries. Depletion accounting also seeks to measure the social value of natural resources and [[Ecosystem|ecosystems]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last1=Banzhafa|first1=Spencer|last2=Boyd|first2=James|date=August 2007|title=What are ecosystem services? The need for standardized environmental accounting units|journal=Ecological Economics|volume=63|issue=2–3|pages=616–626|doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.01.002|bibcode=2007EcoEc..63..616B |url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/10586/files/dp060002.pdf|access-date=2020-08-29|archive-date=2017-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923011436/http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/10586/files/dp060002.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Measurement of social value is sought through [[ecosystem service]]s, which are defined as the benefits of nature to households, communities and economies.<ref name=":10" />

=== Importance ===
There are many different groups interested in depletion accounting. [[Environmentalist|Environmentalists]] are interested in depletion accounting as a way to track the use of natural resources over time, hold governments accountable, or compare their environmental conditions to those of another country.<ref name=":9" /> [[Economist|Economists]] want to measure resource depletion to understand how financially reliant countries or corporations are on non-renewable resources, whether this use can be sustained and the financial drawbacks of switching to renewable resources in light of the depleting resources.<ref name=":9" />

=== Issues  ===
Depletion accounting is complex to implement as nature is not as quantifiable as cars, houses, or bread.<ref name=":9" /> For depletion accounting to work, appropriate units of natural resources must be established so that natural resources can be viable in the market economy. The main issues that arise when trying to do so are, determining a suitable unit of account, deciding how to deal with the "collective" nature of a complete ecosystem, delineating the borderline of the ecosystem, and defining the extent of possible duplication when the resource interacts in more than one ecosystem.<ref name=":9" /> Some economists want to include measurement of the benefits arising from public goods provided by nature, but currently there are no market indicators of value.<ref name=":9" /> Globally, [[environmental economics]] has not been able to provide a consensus of measurement units of nature's services.