“Nature is often just seen as kind of in the way of prosperity. What we’re saying is that nature is crucial to prosperity,” stated Gretchen Daily, a professor of biology at Stanford University
Gretchen Daily has spent more than 30 years developing the scientific underpinnings of natural capital and is the co-founder of the Natural Capital Project. “For decades people have been noting the shortcomings of GDP, but politically it’s always been too fraught to remedy. It’s time to deploy something new,” stated Gretchen Daily. The idea of Gross Ecosystem Product is, in many ways, a culmination of much of Daily’s work. Along with others, she has lobbied the United Nations to make it an official metric.