Environmental economics
Our quality of life depends not only on a strong economy, but also on a healthy natural environment. We also have realised that the natural environment is a major contributor to the economy through our exploitation of many goods, such as fish and timber, minerals and water.
But our natural environment also provides many functions known as ‘ecosystem
services’, which are often invisible for most of us. For example, the capacity
of the environment to assimilate waste and pollution or the pollination of crops
by native insects provides significant economic benefits. Yet, when it comes to approving project developments or developing policies related to natural
resources, the economic value of these ecosystem services is not always taken
into account.
| Economics Techniques series: |
| Fact sheet No 1 - Choice modelling |
Market Based Instruments for Improving Water Quality The following documents describe how market based instruments can be used to improve the water quality of Moreton Bay.
| Development of a Water Quality Metric, for Nutrient Offsets for Moreton Bay, Queensland |
| Scoping Study on a Nutrient Trading Program to improve Water Quality in Morton Bay |
Comments and queries should be directed to the Strategy and Policy Division, telephone (07) 3225 1278.
