Natural Capital Protocol Launch ‘Heralds a New Era’ for Green Business

July 13, 2016 |

More than 40 of the world's biggest companies included Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical Company Hugo Boss, Kering and Nestlé were allowed access to an initial draft of the Protocol

The Natural Capital Protocol has been launched today (13 July) to offer businesses a standardised framework to identify, measure, and value impacts and dependencies on natural assets, raw materials and natural infrastructure.

“The Natural Capital Protocol has been launched today (13 July) to offer businesses a standardised framework to identify, measure, and value impacts and dependencies on natural assets, raw materials and natural infrastructure.

The multi-stakeholder collaboration led by the Natural Capital Coalition will support companies in their decision-making and can be used for a range of applications, including risk management, exploring new revenue streams, improving products and value chain innovation, as well as preparing for future reporting and disclosure.

Applicable to any business sector, the initiative will be focused at a business decision-making level and can be implemented across boundaries, complementing existing approaches that organisations use to evaluate risks and opportunities, and engage with stakeholders.

As one of the partners of the Natural Capital Coalition, WWF said it looked forward to seeing wide-scale uptake and implementation of the Protocol. “The launch of the Natural Capital Protocol heralds a new era in the way that we maintain and enhance our planet’s environment,” said WWF chief adviser on economics and development Karen Ellis.

“The Protocol can help to secure more sustainable patterns of growth in the global economy, and help to chart a much clearer course towards a resource-efficient, low carbon future…”

Read on at: edie.net

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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).