The Natural Capital Manifesto – Establishing a business case for nature
The Natural Capital Manifesto explores innovative strategies for creating a new asset class centered around nature, focusing on how investments in conservation initiatives can be quantified and rewarded.
Our planet faces interconnected crises compounding into the climate and nature emergency. The degradation of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity can potentially destabilize the global economy.
Despite international agreements and targets, many countries still struggle to meet their goals and arrest declines in biodiversity. This shortfall is largely due to insufficient resources and a lack of effective policy and economic drivers. By aligning economic incentives with environmental sustainability, we can drive meaningful change and protect our natural resources.
To move forward from using carbon as a single environmental benchmark, and foster sustainable economies around nature, we need a strategic entry point that leverages the growing momentum in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ambitions among corporations.
We believe that the critical issue is recognizing the value of nature and its natural capital. Traditionally, investments in conservation have been viewed as charitable endeavours, lacking explicit returns or gains for companies. However, to bridge the gap between the natural environment and the commercial world, we need a common ground. This is where data monitoring and the quantification of natural capital can play crucial roles, creating synergy by demonstrating the tangible benefits and returns of conservation efforts.
We aim to establish frameworks that recognize and capitalize the value of natural ecosystems, thereby integrating natural capital with traditional financial systems and fostering economies that are aligned with nature. The Natural Capital Manifesto discusses methodologies for measuring conservation impact, showcase case studies, and outline pathways for integrating these insights into mainstream investment practices.
The method: three steps towards nature investments
The Natural Capital Manifesto outlines three steps that merges conservation, digital and AI technologies, and financial incentives to restore ecosystems. These steps involve:
- Creating a high-performance ecosystem – Conserving the last remaining high-performing ecosystems is not enough to overturn the nature and climate emergency. Our focus is therefore to restore ecosystems. This involves applying scientific principles to improve ecosystem performance, ensuring that all restoration actions are grounded in robust research and evidence.
- Natural capital quantification – To quantify the results of restoration and enhancement actions, natural capital accounting will be employed, using five selected performance data points as key performance indicators. Natural capital is defined by a basket of metrics relating to air, water, soil, carbon, and biodiversity.
- Digital monitoring and display – The monitoring process involves establishing a robust and comprehensive data monitoring system using camera traps, audio recordings, and eDNA. This approach ensures thorough and accurate data collection. The data will then be displayed in a natural capital digital twin with a user-friendly interface, making the information accessible and understandable to all stakeholders, including the public.
Moving towards a balanced future
By integrating natural capital investments in their overall strategy, businesses can create a continuous cycle that benefits both natural and financial capital. Investments in green technologies, sustainable practices and conservation efforts can enhance ESG performance, strengthen brand value and improve business sustainability. With today’s nature emergency calling for urgent action, proactive engagement in conservation is essential in business continuity plans and should be an integral part of strategy to help sustain operations and thrive in the future.
Read the Natural Capital Manifesto here