In the past half century, sustainable development and its policy implications have attracted a number of researchers in recent decades. In this literature, two rival theories are recognizable which are called weak and strong sustainability. These two theories are based on different assumptions, have different policy implications and expectedly lead to different results. Weak sustainability assumes that all different kinds of capital – especially physical and natural capitals – are complete substitutions while according to strong form of sustainability, none of other forms of capital – including physical, human and social- are substitutes for natural capital. This paper, using the most recent natural capital data provided by UN, compares these theories empirically. Using alternative variables for sustainability as dependant variable, we have compared the explanatory significance of different types of capitals in several regression equations. The results show that natural capital significantly explains sustainable development indices. Even, when other forms of capital are included in the regression equation, the positive relation between natural capital and sustainability indices remains statistically significant. So, we can conclude that empirically speaking, as stated in strong sustainability theory, other forms of capital are not substitutes for the natural capital.

The tourism industry is one of the largest and most diversified industries in the world, and is the most important source of income and job creation in many countries. Therefore, estimating the determinants of tourism development is important in economic studies. In this regard, the present study uses panel data and generalized moment method to investigate the impact of capital types including natural capital, physical capital, human capital, financial capital, innovation and foreign direct capital on the development of tourism industry in two groups of selected countries of developing and developed and emerging during the period 2007-2017. The results of the estimation model showed that 1% increase in accumulation of natural capital, physical capital, human capital, financial capital, innovation and foreign direct capital increases the international tourism revenue in developing selected countries by 0.063%, 0.181%, 0.052%, 0.089%, 0.128% and 0.066% respectively. Also, 1% increase in accumulation of natural capital, physical capital, human capital, financial capital, innovation and foreign direct capital increases international tourism revenue in developed and emerging selected countries by 0.113%, 0.104%, 0.080%, 0.055%, 0.091% and 0.118% respectively. In addition, the effect of control variables including globalization, political stability and real exchange rate on the development of tourism industry in both groups of countries are positive and significant.

Natural capital has been introduced in growth models recently in order to address the growth differences among the countries. In this context, the objective of this study is to examine the role of introduced indices for natural capital in Iranian economic growth. To get the objective, Solow neoclassical growth model using the data for 1980-2015 was applied. The applied indices include ecological footprint, biological capacity, ecological footprint-capacity difference, ecological tension, and agricultural land. The findings showed a significant fluctuation of the natural capital indices contribution to growth. Production elasticity with respect to ecological footprint found to be in the rage of 0.02-0.04 while the corresponding values for biological capacity and agricultural land tends to increase, ranging from 0.10 to 0.15. The corresponding values for physical capital fall into the range 0.12-0.17. In addition, the appropriateness of CES production function revealed the validity of constant returns to scale assumption in Iranian economy.

The increased demand and consumption level of human societies has led to excessive exploitation of natural capital and increased ecological unsustainability in natural ecosystems, especially in Protected Areas (PAs). Therefore, the continuation of the process of using ecosystem services leads to an increase in ecological pressures and a decrease in the capacity of natural resources to meet human needs. Therefore, in the present study, the spatial-temporal changes in natural capital and the level of ecological sustainability in the Hara PAs from 1989 to 2021 were evaluated using the ecological footprint model. As the results revealed, tidal zones have the most increasing trend among the existing uses, and water areas show the most decreasing trend. In addition, the obtained results indicate that the extent of mangrove habitats has decreased during the studied years. Also, the performance and equivalence results among the uses of the region showed that the water areas (Aquaculture and fishing area) have assigned the highest equivalence coefficient and during this period, they show the greatest decrease in surface area. While mangrove forests with the lowest level of land use have the highest productivity coefficient. In the studied area, the ecological footprint has an increasing trend, the Biological Capacity (BC) is decreasing, and the Ecological Deficit (ED) is increasing. Thus, the ecological footprint index has increased from 1989 to 2021, which indicates the high intensity of resource use. Also, the foot depth index has an increasing trend, which indicates the increase in the intensity of natural capital consumption and the decrease in capital accumulation during the studied years. Therefore, it is necessary to change the pattern of production and consumption to create ecological balance and control unsustainability in this area. On the other hand, preventing the increase of land cover/use changes as well as the protection of natural capital requires the creation of an integrated management for sustainable development and use of natural resources according to the region's BC.

The share of factors of production in the GDP of a country represents an overall picture of its aggregate production technology. The share of reproducible factors (i.e., physical capital and human capital), and the share of non-reproducible factors (i.e., natural capital and unskilled labor) from total production varies considerably across different countries. In this paper, the impact of nonrenewable resource abundance or dependence on various factor shares is studied. Cross-sectional data of countries using OLS and 2SLS estimates are investigated. The results show that the share of natural capital in GDP is higher in the countries that are more dependent on nonrenewable resources or enjoy resource abundance. Moreover, human capital share and unskilled labor share are both lower in countries with higher degrees of resource dependence. Further research is needed to shed light on how resource abundance or dependence affects factor shares of economies.

Today, due to the limitations of natural capital, it is necessary to balance the rate of utilization of environmental capital with the speed of restoration and their return. Thus, issues and concepts such as green economy and green banking have been considered by countries and regional and international organizations in recent decades. And banks can contribute and influence by using the implementation of green banking to achieve the goals of the policies of the entire resistance economy, production and employment. Green banking was officially started and expanded in Western countries with the aim of preserving natural capital. The initial decision of this type of banking is to minimize the use of paper in banking due to the need to cut down trees, which are the main assets for increasing oxygen production and reducing carbon dioxide. Green banking is paperless banking, without fuel and without wasting time and energy, and if it is the main priority of consumers of banking services, it will pave the way for sustainable development in the country. This article reviews previous articles and research in the field of green banking and its importance and status.

Securing livelihoods and reducing the risk of migration caused by the impact of external shocks on arid ecosystems is one of the essential requirements for ensuring human sustainability. Therefore, the approach to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods against drought is of particular importance. Accordingly, the present study based on descriptive- analytical methodology, examines the effects of drought on the livelihoods resilience of villagers. The research method is applied and based on library and field studies (through a researcher-made questionnaire). The statistical population includes 2168 households in Barakouh, Mazhan and Khosf rural districts of Khosf county. Based on Cochran formula with error of 0.07, 214 questionnaires were randomly distributed and completed by the villagers and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. The findings of the study indicated that the most impacted drought between livelihoods capitals occurred in two dimensions of institutional capital and natural capital with average of 2.83 and 2.76. There is also a significant relationship between the two variables; affecting the resilience of livelihoods capitals from drought and its perception by residents and people's residential background. The results of ANOVA test showed no difference between group and within groups with a history of residence in drought susceptibility except for the two dimensions of economic and natural capital. The results of the Tukey test showed that in the two dimensions of financial and natural capital, a different mean of drought impacts can be observed based on residential history. 

FAO and World Bank promote livestock rearing as a way of poverty alleviation and food security especially among rural poor. Villagers are usually involved in mixed crop-livestock farming. Interviews with villagers in the HableRud basin revealed that some changes have happened and comparing with past decades, fewer villagers keep livestock. They believed that number of villagers who kept livestock in pen has also drastically increased. This study was conducted to understand if natural capital holdings have any impact on villager's dependence on rangeland or not and also to identify the important natural capitals contributing to villager's dependency on rangeland, some unstructured and structured interviews with local people were conducted. Comparisons between the two groups of villagers namely, dependent and independent on rangeland in terms of the identified indicators, the independent samples T-test and Mann Whitney U were applied for parametric and nonparametric data, respectively. Then in order to predict likelihood of dependency of a villager on rangeland based on holding of or access to independent variables, binary logistic regression was applied using SPSS. Descriptive data analysis showed that just 177 villagers out of 380 samples were dependent on rangeland and the rest did not rely on rangeland at all. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the two groups of dependent and independent villagers on rangelands in terms of grazing right, size of farm and orchard holding, number of small livestock, total livestock and total natural capital. But the best indicators to predict a villager's dependence on rangeland was decided to be grazing right, number of small livestock and size of farm. The study revealed that independent variables predict the odds (61% - 82%) that a villager will decide to keep livestock dependent on rangeland.

Natural capital is essential for human survival and achieving sustainable development goals. Therefore, a scientific framework is required to evaluate regional natural capitals consumption and their capacity to ensure sustainable development. Natural capitals represent the limiting and irreplaceable factors in human well-being and sustainability of every developmental intervention. Degradation of the accumulation and flows of the natural capitals are the fundamental issues in the discussion of environmental sustainability. The current research has been conducted with the aim of investigating the state of ecosystem sustainability by adopting two approaches of ecological footprint and ecosystem services, and in other words, comparing the amount of demand for resources with the supply of goods and services provided by the ecosystem.

In this research, to investigate the sustainability of Nowshahr's natural and urban ecosystem as the case study, first, the trend of land use changes and its associated phenomena in the region have been investigated using ENVI 5.6 software for processing the satellite images. In order to investigate the change process of the study area, Landsat satellite reference images, TM, ETM+ and OLI sensors were used for the time scale of 2002, 2013 and 2020. Then, the classic ecological footprint of the region was calculated for six types of productive ecosystems, including agricultural lands, pastures, fishing areas, forests, built-up lands, and the carbon demand. The areas of these six land cover types were converted into global hectares using yield and equivalence factors. Subsequently, the maximum amount of ecosystem service flow per global hectare was estimated. And after that, the amount of consumption of natural capital accumulation and the occupation of capital flow in the region were investigated. Finally, the ecosystem stability of the study area was investigated using indicators such as the ecological pressure index (EPI), ecological sustainability index (ESI), ratio of capital stock to flows index, flow occupation ratio index, and excessive natural capital flow index.

According to the research results in the city of Nowshahr, during the period of 2011-2019, the amount of ecological footprint, ecological deficit and pressure have gradually increased, resulting in a reduction of the ecological balance and stability. Only the pasture, forest and fishing areas are in a stable state meaning that the supply of ecological resources is more than the demand, and the pressure is still within the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. In the period of investigation, the amount of use of stock to natural capital flow has increased and has reached almost four times of natural capital flow.

Measuring human demand for natural capital and nature's supply is essential for tracking progress, setting goals, and orientating sustainability policies. By combining the two approaches of evaluating ecosystem services and ecological footprint, it is possible to track human demand and nature's supply from a precise subset of ecosystem services, and therefore ecological balance and sustainability can be examined at the local level. Based on the results of the research, the stability of the region and the status of its ecosystem services is threatened by the cultivated land, and mainly the consumption of fossil energy. Based on the results of the research, in the period of investigation, the stability of the city of Nowshahr has decreased and the status of its ecosystem services are threatened by the cultivated land, and mainly the consumption of fossil energy. During this period and considering factors such as land use level, ecological deficit, footprint depth, ecosystem service flow, ecological pressure index, and ecological sustainability index, agricultural land use was the most unsustainable and fishing was the most sustainable use in city of Nowshahr.

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of handicrafts produce on sustainable livelihoods capitals of rural households. Statistical Society this research Descriptive- Analytical, was Sarvabad county Uraman district located in the Kurdistan province (N=4192). Comparison of different levels of livelihood Capital in The two gorup villages at no crafts and crafts producer. Sample sizebase on Cochran formula was 351 sample. The research instrument included a questionnaire for five livelihoods (physical, human, social, financial and natural capitals) and handicrafts. The reliability of the designed questionnaire was confirmed with coefficient of 0.79. The results of Friedman and Kruskal Wallis tests showed that there is a significant difference between financial, natural and physical capital in two groups of households. Also, the results of Spearman's correlation coefficient showed that there is a significant relationship between handicrafts and rural livelihoods. Correlation intensity showed that handicrafts had the most positive impact on physical, physical and natural capital, respectively. In terms of capital ranking in two groups in the group of handicraft producers are physical, natural, financial, social and human capital, respectively, and among households without handicraft production, human, social, financial, natural and Physically ranked. It should be noted that in any livelihood capital, the average of household without handicrafts is not equal or greater than the average sustainable livelihood capital of a household with handicrafts.According to the data analysis, it can be concluded that handicrafts have played a very important role in promoting sustainable livelihoods of households in the group of households producing handicrafts. In order to improve the livelihood capital of rural households and reduce poverty and develop rural housing, planners and executives should consider the production and training of handicrafts in rural households.