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The oceans are not worth $24 trillion

Some things are beyond measure and beyond price. No amount of money is enough to compensate for the loss of the sacred.

Published:
CharlesEisenstein.jpg
CharlesEisenstein.jpg

Credit: www.rtcc.org. All rights reserved.

In case you were wondering whether the oceans are worth protecting, the World Wildlife Fund has helpfully put a monetary value on them: $24 trillion. No doubt they hope to align economic incentive with ecological well-being: a laudable motivation. But think for a moment about the mentality this kind of valuation feeds. It suggests: