Which statement about natural capital is correct?

• A. It is the stock of natural resources and ecosystems.
• B. It represents manufactured infrastructure assets.
• C. It is not included in economic indicators.
• D. It is a subset of human-made capital.

Answer: (C)

Natural capital is the stock of natural resources and ecosystems that provide goods and services we rely on, from minerals and forests to clean water and pollination. In standard economic analysis, the usual indicators we rely on, like GDP, focus on market transactions and do not capture the depreciation or value of these natural assets. Because of that, natural capital is not included in traditional economic indicators. There are more comprehensive measures, like environmental or inclusive wealth accounts, that attempt to bring natural capital into the picture, but conventional indicators typically do not. The other statements mix up what natural capital is or what it represents: manufactured infrastructure assets are not natural, and natural capital is not a subset of human-made capital.