Natural Capital Committee’s Fourth State of Natural Capital Report

January 25, 2017 |

This report is a product of the Natural Capital Committee.

The Coalition looks forward to continued collaboration with the Natural Capital Committee, and we’re pleased to see that the government response to this report states that:

“We support the NCC’s work on developing an approach to corporate natural capital accounting. We will continue to work with the Natural Capital Coalition and the Natural Capital Declaration as they develop an internationally agreed approach to valuing and accounting for nature in business and finance. We will work to ensure that the emerging approaches are consistent, compatible, rigorous, proportionate and replicable”.

“Background to the Natural Capital Committee: In 2011 the government established a Natural Capital Committee (NCC); an independent, time limited committee providing advice to the government on the sustainable use of natural capital in England (the elements of the natural environment which provide valuable goods and services to people, such as clean air, clean water, food and recreation). The Committee’s main advice to government was to develop a long-term (25 year) plan to meet its goal of improving the environment within a generation.

The current government made a manifesto commitment in 2015 to re-establish the Committee. The Natural Capital Committee was re-instated in January 2016, with a remit through to 2020. As with the first Committee, the NCC formally reports to the Economic Affairs Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Committee’s main role is to advise the government on how to develop its 25 year plan to improve the environment.

The Committee is chaired by Professor Dieter Helm and has six members who collectively bring expertise and experience in the fields of ecology and environmental science, economics, accounting and business. The members are: Professor Ian Bateman; Professor Diane Coyle; Professor Paul Leinster; Professor Georgina Mace; Professor Colin Mayer; and Professor Kathy Willis. The Committee is supported by a secretariat based in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs…”

Read on and access the report at: Gov.uk

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Introduction from Carl Obst (2017)

Victor Hugo once wrote that “Nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come”. Recognising the true value of natural capital, is one such idea. Across private and public sectors, across disciplines, and around the world, initiatives to advance and develop natural capital thinking have emerged rapidly over the past 10 years.

In a blizzard of acronyms, we have the NCC, SEEA, WAVES, IIRC, KIP-INCA, A4S, GRI, EO4EA – among many others. Are they the same, are they competing, are they useful? To both insiders and outsiders this range of initiatives is confusing at best. At worst, it leads to a lack of engagement, avoidance and misunderstanding.

The reality is that, while differences among these various initiatives do exist, they have all been motivated by a common understanding of the reality that we are losing our stocks of natural capital – and that this matters.

While each initiative may have different origins, some differing objectives, and may reflect variations in technique and method, there is much common ground. Indeed, to engage the broader community in tackling the natural capital challenges we collectively face, we cannot afford to focus on distinctions. Instead, we must look to build on the overlaps and seek to build a common language that will enable the exchange of ideas and ongoing innovation.

It is in this spirit of collaboration that the Natural Capital Coalition, together with the IDEEA Group and supported by over 20 organisations, launches this statement on Combining Forces on Natural Capital.

It is especially relevant that this statement of collaboration is launched at the World Forum on Natural Capital, where leading voices in the movement gather every two years, to share best practice, enduring challenges and build further collaborations.

While progress to date has largely taken place in small pockets, in order to move forward we need to ramp up our efforts and move beyond talking with supporters and “the converted”.

For this, we need leaders who can establish spaces for dialogue and development, and who can ensure that technical debates do not form a barrier to progress, that we take full advantage of the diversity of skills and experience already engaged, and that the big picture is always kept in mind.

I encourage you to take the opportunity to read the statement, to share it within your organisations, to sign on, and to join us as we move towards a better understanding and appreciation of the complex and beautiful world in which we live.

Carl Obst is Director of the Institute for the Development of Environmental-Economic Accounting (IDEEA Group), and Lead Author of the United Nation’s System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (UN SEEA).