Analysis of Environmental Value and Its Assessment (I)

First, environment, environmental quality and environmental value

(a) the environment

The status quo of the earth is the result of the participation of the organism in the geological history process, and it is also regulated, controlled and maintained by life activities. In environmental science, the environment refers to the natural conditions or material conditions surrounding a biological individual or biological group and the complex social and cultural conditions that affect individuals and groups. In general, the environment refers to the external world with human beings as the main body, that is, the environment that is necessary for human survival and reproduction.[1]

The environment is a system, a dynamic, open system, because the environment and the outside have the exchange and connection of matter and energy. The human environment can be divided into natural and social environments. The natural environment is the general term for natural conditions and natural resources necessary for human survival, living, production and development. That is to say, the natural environment is all naturally occurring substances (air, water, rocks, soil, flora and fauna, microorganisms) and energy (sunshine, temperature, humidity, wind force, tides, gravity, etc.) that directly or indirectly affect humans and their activities. The total of geomagnetic and natural phenomena (solar stability, geological structure of the earth's crust, earthquakes, volcanic activity, tsunami, water circulation, soil and water evolution, etc.) can also be regarded as consisting of two parts: the global environment and the external environment. The environment of the earth has obvious characteristics of a circle: the crust is composed of rocks, water, and floating soil. It is called the lithosphere, water circle, and earthen circle. The outermost layer of the earth is the atmosphere circle, and its thickness is usually 1000-1400 km. The lower layer of the atmosphere and the surface of the earth's crust live with a variety of creatures, so we call this level the biosphere. The social environment refers to the upper-class building conditions of the human social system, including the economic basis of society, the urban-rural structure, and the political, economic, legal, religious, artistic, and philosophical concepts and institutions that are compatible with various social systems. It should also include The material, energy, technology, tools and products formed by human activities, some people think that these social elements constitute another circle - the circle of human intelligence or the noosphere [2].

Different countries have specific environmental concepts. The "Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" states that "environment" refers to the whole range of natural and artificially modified natural factors that affect human survival and development, including the atmosphere, water, oceans, land, minerals, forests, and grasslands. Wildlife, natural relics, cultural relics, nature reserves, scenic spots, cities and villages, etc."

(B) Environmental Quality

Environmental quality generally refers to the degree of suitability for the survival and development of human society in a specific environment, the overall environment, or certain elements of the environment. It is a concept that assesses the state of the environment and reflects the specific requirements of the population. People often use "environmental quality" to evaluate the degree of environmental pollution. Human requirements for environmental quality are different in different places and different historical periods. There are natural and artificial reasons that affect environmental quality, and the latter is more important. For example, pollution can change the quality of the environment. The rationality of resource utilization also has an impact on environmental quality. The cultural status also affects the quality of the environment. The environmental pollution and environmental damage caused by the rapid development of modern industry have caused huge losses to mankind in the economy, pose incalculable threats and disasters to the space for mankind's survival and development, and have thus led to worldwide government agencies and institutions. Civil organizations or individuals are deeply concerned about environmental issues.

(III) Environmental Value

There is no doubt that everything in the natural world can serve the interests of mankind, be used by mankind, have an instrumental value, can provide food, wood, and other industrial raw materials for humans, and can even be appreciated, but whether or not they have their own What is the value that is independent of human beings, that is, the intrinsic value? An object has tool value when it serves as a means for other purposes. If it is its purpose in itself, then it has intrinsic value. Non-human biological and non-biological have intrinsic value, which is one of the most concerned issues in environmental ethics. The material and life on the earth appear as a network pattern and is a collection of many species [3].

Environmental value is a dynamic concept. The environment provides the necessary material and energy bases and spiritual satisfaction for the survival and development of human beings. It provides humans with resources such as air, biology, minerals, fresh water, oceans, land, and forests. This is a manifestation of the environmental value in terms of materiality. All material information of human activities comes from the environment in the final analysis, and it is required to obtain it from the environment. On the other hand, although the beautiful landscape, vast space and environmental capacity provided by the environment do not directly enter the production process, it is another type of resource that can meet the spiritual needs of human beings and extend the production process [4].

Second, the development of resource and environmental value theory

The environment is a natural resource, and all kinds of natural resources are elements that make up the environment. A certain reliance on the environment has been recognized as a basic need for real people, and fulfilling and realizing this need is a direct value of the environment, and the environment has become part of the human subjective dimension. People began to cherish and protect the virtuous circle of the surrounding environment as one of the contents, signs, rights, and responsibilities of the adult's own survival and development as an organic component of the overall and healthy development of human beings. For humans, the environment is valuable. Moreover, as the needs of human beings are gradually developed in the order of survival needs, development needs and enjoyment needs, the value of the environment will also grow.

The theory of resources and environmental value is an important foundation for establishing a correct view of resources and environment and for carrying out resource accounting. It is also a prerequisite for building an indicator system for sustainable development. From the perspective of economics, the current value theories guiding the pricing of resources and resources mainly include labor value theory, utility value theory, existential value theory, etc. They describe the value of natural resources and the environment from different angles, but their value sources for natural resources The problems have their own theoretical system and have not been unified[5].

(I) Labor Value Theory

Marx's theory of labor value is the theory that the socially necessary amount of labor in the commodity determines the value of the commodity. The theory of labor value holds that natural resources that do not condense human labor have no value, but they can have price performance. The main theoretical basis for this is the theory of land rent. The so-called rent, that is, the resource as the income or price of the asset. In socialist countries, these rights are owned by the state and include three parts: "absolute rent," "differential rent," and "monopoly rent." For mineral resources, it can be referred to as "mine use fees", "resource balance fees" and "special resource fees"; grassland resources can be called "grass use fees", "resource balance fees", "special resources Fees, etc. These three parts are collectively referred to as the price of ownership of natural resources and it constitutes a major component of the price of natural resources.

There are two viewpoints on whether labor theory of value applies to the study of natural resources in the present era.

The first view holds that the various conclusions based on the theory of labor value did not solve the problem of the free use of natural resources. Some believe that natural resources have no value. As a result, natural resources are used free of charge, leading to predatory exploitation and destroying the ecological balance. Some talk about the value of natural resources, but compensation for value only compensates for the labor they consume. Nor does it involve compensation for the natural resources themselves, which, though to a certain extent, has limited the use of natural resources through the adjustment of economic leverage, but the final result is the same as the former, and natural resources are used free of charge. Therefore, when resources and the environment become global issues and China vigorously develops a socialist market economy today, the labor theory of value is a blind spot for the study of resources and the environment. It does not apply at all.

The second point of view is that although labor theory of value does not consider realities such as resources and environment, it is undoubtedly correct if it is based on an era in which the economy is still underdeveloped, environmental problems are not prominent, and resources are relatively rich in human needs. Marx was in such an age. Therefore, it is correct that the “natural means of production without human assistance” is worthless. Based on the reality of today, the economy is highly developed, and resource and environmental issues have become major problems facing the world. The supply of resources has been unable to meet the growing economic needs, and will inevitably participate in the reproduction of natural resources. This inevitably involves human labor. The value of natural resources is in line with Marx's view of labor value. The theory of Marx's labor value should have new development in the new era. The vitality of Marxism is precisely the development in constant innovation.

However, from another perspective, it is difficult to find a purely resource-based environmental ecosystem that does not have human influence and interference on the earth today. The history of mankind, in terms of its history of reproduction, is a history of the development and utilization of resources and the environment. The current resources and environment are not "natural nature" but "artificial nature". Therefore, all the natural resources and ecological environment that have entered the operation of the ecological economic system on the earth today are not the kind of “valueless” things that Marx puts into use value without investing. Since this type of use value (ie, natural resources and ecological environment) has been produced after labor, according to Marx's "value is merely a simple condensation of undifferentiated human labor, that is, regardless of the form of the human labor cost alone. The "condensation" theory, resources and environment should be valuable. This does not violate Marx's theory of labor value.