NEW DELHI – What is a sip of clean water worth? Is there
economic value in the shade of a tree? And how much would you
pay for a breath of fresh air? Putting a price on a natural
bounty long taken for granted as free may sound impossible, even
ridiculous. But after three decades on the fringes of serious
policymaking, the idea is gaining traction, from the vividly
clear waters of the Maldives to the sober, suited reaches of the
World Bank. As traditional measures of economic progress like
GDP are criticized for ignoring downsides including pollution or
diminishment of resources such as fresh water or fossil fuels,
there has been an increased urgency to arguments for a more
balanced and accurate reckoning of costs. That is particularly
so as fast-developing nations such as India and China jostle
with rich nations for access to those resources and insist on
their own right to pollute on a path toward growth. Proponents
of so-called “green accounting” - who will gather in Rio de
Janeiro this week for the Rio Ear