Green Accounting in Comparing the Wealth of Nations - Research Paper Example

One of the benefits associated with the use of green accounting in the comparison of national wealth stems from the fact that green accounting does not only measure produced capital, but also natural capital. As such, a country with a lot of natural resources can be classified as being wealthy even if its produced capital is low (IPS Correspondents, 2014). Also advantageous is the fact that once countries realize that natural resources can be used to measure national wealth; more policies will be put in place in order to protect the environment and enter the wealth race among countries.

Such competition will be beneficial for all as it will reduce environmental destruction which, according to Wangari Maathai, the Nobel peace award laureate, is the new national enemy (IPS Correspondents, 2014). Disadvantages of using green accounting to compare the wealth of nations             There exists a huge economic gap between the world’s richest and poorest countries, meaning that if national wealth is to be measured in terms of natural and human resources, then this gap will only widen.

According to IPS Correspondents (2014), whereas high-income countries continue to gain overall wealth, low-income countries continue to lose such wealth, thus making the comparison of the two unfair.             Another disadvantage in using green accounting is concerned with the idea that the depletion of natural resources is done by people who are without skills, beliefs, and self-value (IPS Correspondents, 2014). Unfortunately, most people in the world’s poorest countries lack such values, beliefs, and skills.

Accordingly, such people continually deplete their national resources thus reducing the wealth of their nations and giving the rich countries an upper hand.