The Intrinsic Exchange Group (IEG) is pushing a new plan to profit from what they call "nature's economy." The group listed the "Natural Asset Company” on a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which will allow the public to buy and sell shares.
The Natural Asset Company holds the rights to public lands, some of which are purchased from public land trusts. Douglas Eger, the company’s CEO, claims the company will transform the industrial economy.
“Together, IEG and the NYSE will enable investors to access nature’s store of wealth and transform our industrial economy into one that is more equitable,” Eger stated.
Activist funds and foundations are endorsing such natural asset companies, including Blackrock, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Executive Order 14072, signed by President Biden in 2022, directs the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to provide guidance related to the valuation of ecosystem and environmental services and natural assets.
On August 18, 2022, the agency announced the launch of the first U.S. national system of natural capital accounts (NCAs) and standardized environmental-economic statistics. The agency also published a 76-page draft plan called "The National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental Economic Decisions.”
The plan is to measure the economic value of U.S. natural assets according to the federal government's standard national accounting system. Critics suggest that this is an attempt to generate artificial economic value to boost the federal balance sheet. This would allow the government to borrow against the assets without appearing to increase the nation’s debt.
