May 16, 2017, New York, NY: Today the Natural Capital Coalition (the Coalition), the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA) and the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) launch the Natural Capital Protocol’s draft Finance Sector Supplement for public consultation. The draft document will be released at an event at The Rockefeller Foundation HQ in New York.
The Supplement, which is being developed as an open, collaborative process with the finance sector, will focus on three key sub-sectors:
- Banking: Provision of debt through project finance, corporate lending and underwriting activities.
- Investment: Provision of equity by asset owners and fund managers, this may also involve active ownership and impact investing.
- Insurance: This includes corporate underwriting and reinsurance.
After the project’s launch in October 2016, an initial engagement process was conducted with the participation of almost 250 individuals and organizations, who have helped to identify the structure, scope and content of the draft supplement.
The Consultation
The consultation will run for four months, ending August 25, 2017, and will comprise:
- Webinars
- Workshops in several major geographies
- A piloting program
- An open public consultation on the online platform Collaborase
More information on the Supplement is available in the Supplement Briefing Paper.
If you wish to take part in the public consultation, please register here.
To download a copy of the draft Finance Sector Supplement, please fill in the form on the project webpage.
ENDS/
Press contacts:
Joseph Harris-Confino – Communications Officer – Natural Capital Coalition
M +44 (0) 7855 516 654
E joseph.confino@naturalcapitalcoalition.org
Raj Singh – Communications and Content Manager – Natural Capital Finance Alliance
M: +44 (0) 79797 28781
Sigi Simons – PR and Communications Manager – VBDO
M: +31 (0)6-20330997
Notes to Editors:
About the Natural Capital Coalition (The Coalition):
The Natural Capital Coalition has developed the Natural Capital Protocol (hereafter “the Protocol”) to make natural capital visible in business decision making. The Coalition has grown considerably over the last year and is now made up of nearly 250 organizations from a wide range of stakeholder groups including conservation, science and academia, business, associations, standard-setting, finance, accountancy and policy/government. Whilst the Coalition is primarily directed towards solutions for business, it is also a broad ‘Coalition’ as its name suggests, creating a space where all interested parties from all stakeholder groups can work together to create vibrant societies and productive economies through the inclusion of natural capital in decision making.
The Coalition’s Natural Capital Protocol and associated sector guides have been developed through a unique collaborative process, with 38 organizations coming together under contract to develop something for the public good. The final Protocol along with sector guides for the Apparel and Food & Beverage sectors were launched in July 2016. The Protocol aims to support better decisions by including how business interacts with nature, or more specifically natural capital, in decision-making. It is not a disclosure framework.
The Protocol is freely available at https://capitalscoalition.org/protocol/.
About the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA):
The Natural Capital Financial Alliance (NCFA) was launched at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+ 20 Earth Summit) in 2012 by UNEP FI and the UK-based non-governmental organisation, Global Canopy Programme (GCP). It is a worldwide finance led initiative to integrate natural capital considerations into financial products and services, and to work towards their inclusion in financial accounting, disclosure and reporting. Signatory financial institutions are working towards implementing the commitments in the Declaration through NCFA projects. These are overseen by a steering committee of signatories and supporters and supported by a secretariat formed of the UNEP FI and GCP.
The Finance Sector Supplement on Natural Capital is part of the NCFA’s approved 2016-18 work programme and also sits under Working Group 3. The Supplement aims to support the Working Groups commitment to ‘Work towards building a global consensus for the integration of natural capital into private sector accounting and decision making; supporting the related work of the Natural Capital Coalition and other stakeholders.
For more information visit www.naturalcapitalfinancealliance.org
About the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO):
The Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) aims at generating a more sustainable capital market by raising awareness both with multinational corporations and investors about the contributions they can make towards a sustainable capital market.
The VBDO also formulates opinions on different topics related to sustainability. VBDO regularly carries out researches, visits Annual General Meetings of stock listed companies and engages in an active dialogue with banks, insurance companies, media and Dutch stock listed companies. As such VBDO is the only association in the Netherlands representing institutional as well as individual sustainable investors.
At the beginning of 2016 VBDO published the “Guide on Natural Capital & Financial Institutions” in cooperation with CREM. This guide provides practical guidance to financial institutions that wish to take their interactions with natural capital into account in their investment management.
VBDO will contribute its insight into the application of guidance on natural capital in general and will have the oversight of the elements regarding investment management, such as active ownership practices and impact investing. For more information about the VBDO, please see www.VBDO.nl.
