Abstract
It has been theoretically shown that a necessary condition for sustainability is ensuring that comprehensive wealth―including natural capital―does not decrease. Because of this, in recent years the Inclusive Wealth Index, which actually measures this wealth, has attracted attention as a sustainability indicator. In this paper, we review the policy, theoretical, and empirical research background, and as one example we examine the issues encountered when incorporating water into natural capital. Intra-generational equity, the effects of population decline, aggregate spatial scale, and shadow price estimates are identified as areas for future research.
