United States
£ GBP
An exciting exploration of the new frontier of finance, to value the planet and protect what has too long been treated as free and taken for granted – the natural assets we need and love most
In Pricing the Priceless: The Financial Transformation to Value the Planet, Solve the Climate Crisis, and Protect Our Most Precious Assets, renowned environmental strategist, speaker, world traveler and author Paula DiPerna brings a unique voice and optic to de-mystify and unveil today's most fascinating financial disruption – pricing the priceless to flip conventional ideas of how we value natural assets and why. She asks the provocative question long ignored: Why do we value the indispensable atmosphere at zero, but dispensable production in the trillions? She digs into alternatives, with real-life examples from around the globe of fascinating and pioneering financial innovations – controversial and paradoxical, but essential. In the book, you'll travel from rainforests to Wall Street, Board Rooms to the Vatican, coral reefs to mangroves to China's carbon markets. Timely, adventurous, eclectic, and accessible, Pricing the Priceless brings alive the critical financial transformation that will determine future planetary health and social stability.
With power, clarity and real-world experience, the author also examines:
- Fascinating new financial inventions and experiments – insurance, bonds, markets, investment funds – all aimed at pricing what is precious and vital to human well-being
- How the great current intergenerational shift in wealth and attitudes is redefining investment trends and the idea of what constitutes wealth and return
- How climate change and other urgent environmental problems now require entirely new financial thinking to trigger solutions
- How once-radical ideas about measuring economic progress are now re-imagining the very purpose of capitalism
- Why finance needs critical re-invention to remain credible in the face of increasing public skepticism of business-as-usual economic practice
A can't-miss read for thought leaders, business executives, investors, activists, and entrepreneurs, Pricing the Priceless is a landmark that will shape the world and future, bridging the tangible and intangible to answer a critical question of rising economic and social inspiration: What is money for?
Preface vii
1. Michelangelo's Finger: The Pope and the Atmosphere 1
2. Marooned: The Island of Wrong Things Measured 15
3. One of a Kind: The Gamble of Rarity and Price 31
4. Art in a Box: Pricelessness Saves Detroit 39
5. Mangroves and Money: All of Nature Is an Economic Machine 55
6. The Cosmic Penthouse: Carbon Pricing, Carbon Markets 69
7. Dare to Surmount: China Joins the Marathon 103
8. Wall Street to the Rescue? Nauru May Answer 121
9. Never Another Drop: The Flow of Water Markets 151
10. Wildlife and Wonderment: The Rhino Bond 177
11. Premiums to the Coral: Coral Reef Insurance 189
12. Forests as Infrastructure: The Forest Resilience Bond 197
13. Off Limits: The Value of Do Not Touch 213
14. Infinite Value: Return to Rome 241
References 247
Acknowledgments 253
Index 255
Paula DiPerna is a pioneer and leader at the forefront of finance and climate policy, from the Oval Office to Antarctica, coral reefs to carbon markets. She served as President of CCX International, the world's first expansive emissions trading system to address global warming; President of the Joyce Foundation; and writer for underwater hero, Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Currently, she is Special Advisor to CDP, the world's only integrated environmental disclosure system. DiPerna is a frequent media commentator and public speaker.
