Spain's natural resources: 9,400 euros per inhabitant, but 15% less than in 1995
The value of Spain's natural resources per inhabitant has fallen by 15% between 1995 and 2018, according to data collected in the monograph Economy and environment in Spain: analysis of the flow of materials and natural capital, published by the BBVA Foundation and the ivy. In any case, the per capita value of these resources is 34% higher than the average of the 27. Furthermore, the absolute has remained practically stable in this period – it has fallen by 0.4% -, while the GDP has grown by around 60%.
This means that Spanish citizens are among the richest in the EU in terms of their natural resources, with an endowment of 9,436 euros per person. This natural capital is made up of forest resources (timber and non-timber), cropland, pasture land, protected areas, and energy resources and metallic minerals.. Thus, the eighth position that Spain occupies despite this 15% drop – in 1995 it was 11,153 euros – is explained, in part, by the increase in population: the cake is the same, but it must be distributed among more people.
The study estimates the stock of natural capital by valuing natural resources based on the income they generate or market prices.. That is, other intangibles are left out, such as the contribution of forests as a natural habitat, but a complete image is formed that, in this same case, does take into account the production of cork or esparto grass.. In any case, Eva Benages, economist at Ivie and co-author of the report, recalls that with these results we must take into account that capital is a little underestimated” because “it is impossible” to have information to value all environmental assets.
“There has not been a very significant loss of added natural capital during these years,” Benages contextualizes.. It is more of a “stagnation” that, yes, the document warns that “could put at risk the sustainability of economic growth and the well-being of future generations” if it continues at the rate of population increase.
“Taking into account that in these years the GDP has grown by more than 60% and that the natural stock has only fallen by 0.4%, I would say that this is not an alarming message at the moment,” Benages reassures.. The economic growth experienced since 1995 has been intense, but it has not led to a significant loss in natural capital, only an almost marginal reduction. “We could say that it has been maintained, so it is not bad news,” continues the expert, but “it can be a problem” if these rates of loss of natural capital and population growth are maintained or expanded.
The idea is to get ahead of this and begin to take into account the depreciation of natural capital in the same way that the calculation of GDP takes into account the depreciation of physical capital: “Many times what is not measured is not taken into account. “. “Natural capital is basic for the well-being of the population or citizens, but it is also part of the productive base that a country has,” Benages recalls.
Crops and forests
In terms of resources, Spain is a country of farmland and pastures, which are also the most important element in the natural capital of Malta and Ireland.. In the Spanish case, its contribution is 59.40%, distributed equally between irrigated and dry land.. However, this does not mean that they occupy the same land, since the former are much more profitable in terms of surface area.. Although the drought of recent years does not enter into this calculation, which only lasts until 2018, its impact could be noted in future reports.. “If part of the irrigated lands become dry lands due to problems with water resources, that valuation will go down,” Benages illustrates.
The figure, in any case, represents more than double the second most important resource, forestry (23.29%).. Protected areas, for their part, total 16.47%, which means multiplying their weight by four from 3.9% in 1995.
Meanwhile, energy resources account for only 0.84%, since they measure coal, natural gas and oil.. The first stopped being extracted in Spain and the other two fuels are very scarce in the country. The reserves of metallic minerals, located mainly in Andalusia, do not have much weight either.. Despite everything, Benages believes that the calculation would change if other energy resources such as the sun or wind were valued, in line with the country's installation of renewables, but “it is difficult to make an economic valuation” of their contribution.
Benages points out that, despite this separation by resources, we must have the complete picture to contextualize natural capital.. “In the end, the weight that each asset has depends not only on the importance of that asset, but also on the importance of the others,” he illustrates.