This article was originally published on Sustainable Brands.
“Factoring the value of nature into governance and corporate decision-making is not an easy task, but governments and businesses are starting to recognize the importance of natural capital accounting. According to the Natural Capital Coalition, 68 countries are looking to produce natural capital accounts, while 10 percent of WBCSD member companies mention the Natural Capital Protocol framework in their sustainability reporting.
But there is still a long way to go. Over the past two decades, 109 out of 140 major nations have shown a downward trend in their natural capital, according to the UN Environment Programme’s Inclusive Wealth Report. Forest resources are declining in 85 countries, while renewable resources are dwindling in more than 100. And that’s not all. The rate of species extinction is also threatening the fundamental integrity of ecosystems.
“We are losing species at an alarming rate,” says Inger Andersen, director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). “We cannot afford to see this horrendously falling level on species loss.”
Speaking at the World Forum on Natural Capital in Edinburgh, Scotland this week, Andersen said urgent investment is required if such trends are to be reversed and pointed to a $300 billion shortfall per year for natural capital programmes. This funding gap, she added, was what is needed “to sustain our very existence on this planet.”…”
Read on at: Sustainable Brands.
