Existence value
Encyclopedia
Existence values are an unusual and somewhat controversial class of economic value, reflecting the benefit people receive from knowing that a particular environmental resource, such as Antarctica, the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...

, endangered species, or any other organism or thing exists.

Existence value is a prominent example of non-use value
Non-use value
The concept of non-use value refers to the value that people derive from economic goods independent of any use, present or future, that people might make of those goods...

, as they do not require that utility
Utility
In economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....

 be derived from direct use of the resource: the utility comes from simply knowing the resource exists. The idea was first introduced by John V. Krutilla, though he used the term "sentimental value."

As the Canadian Privy Council explains, existence value is "A concept used to refer to the intrinsic value of some asset, normally natural/environmental. It is the value of the benefits derived from the asset's existence alone. For example, a tree can be valued in a number of ways, including its use value (as lumber), an existence value (simply being there), and an option value (value of things that it could be used for). Existence value is separate from the value accruing from any use or potential use of the asset."

These values are commonly measured through contingent valuation
Contingent valuation
Contingent valuation is a survey-based economic technique for the valuation of non-market resources, such as environmental preservation or the impact of contamination...

 surveys and have been actionable damages in the US since
. They were used in a legal assessment of damages following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Exxon Valdez oil spill
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled of crude oil. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused...

.
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