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This year, the World Economic Forum published a report, which rated biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as the third-highest perceived risk over the next 10 years.

There are costs when exploiting nature without paying attention to how much is used and to what effect, including risks associated with overexploitation, resource scarcity and climate change.

However, there are also financial costs involved in maintaining and enhancing nature to ensure that these critical services can continue.

The concept of natural capital is gaining in popularity, but is not yet widely or fully understood. This is why IEMA has produced a paper for its members, Natural Capital 101 – Insights for Sustainability Professionals.

The paper examines the concepts and approaches related to natural capital, using accessible language and frameworks to promote a common understanding among practitioners. It discusses what natural capital is and the benefits of taking a natural capital approach, as well as what a natural capital assessment looks like and valuing capital. It also offers a basic introduction to accounting.

The paper is not a detailed ‘how to’, but looks at good overall processes with examples, tips for success, key terms and lots of links to useful sites and additional resources.

Anyone can do a natural capital assessment – even if it is basic. An organisation can start by describing natural capital stocks and identifying potential ecosystem services that nature can provide, before going on to identify the aims of the assessment and undertaking quantitative assessments.

Natural Capital 101 will help sustainability professionals understand their organisation’s impact on nature and increase its resilience for the good of their business, people and the planet.

Natural Capital 101 explains key concepts. Visit www.bit.ly/Natural-capital-101 to download the full report


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Lesley Wilson AIEMA

Policy and Engagement Lead

Lesley is Policy and Engagement Lead at IEMA with a focus on biodiversity and natural capital. Lesley also supports IEMA’s role as Secretariat to the UK Business and Biodiversity Forum, working with businesses to raise the profile of, mainstream, and share good practice in, biodiversity. Lesley joined IEMA in December 2021 after 11 years delivering projects, programmes and solutions for business in the field of environmental sustainability for the British Standards Institution (BSI), including ground breaking standards in biodiversity net gain and natural capital. Lesley has a qualification in business management (MBA) and climate change management, and mentors environmental students at the University of Westminster.