Natural capital underpins all other types of capital – manufactured, human and social – and is the foundation on which our economy, society, and prosperity are built (reference). It places a value on these external (overlooked) assets in ways that align with financial accounting.
Natural capital is one of three related concepts that are increasingly prominent in evaluating and communicating the need to sustain the natural environment.
Thriving biodiversity is central to the ecosystem services that we all rely on, and that can be quantified as natural capital and supplemented through restoring and creating new habitats as green and blue infrastructure.
Our goal is to integrate these concepts, recognising that biodiversity is essential to all of them, to respond to imperative needs (including social cohesion, a stable climate, and productive land and seas) in ways that are relevant to plans and projects of any scale and location in the UK, and beyond. We use our capacity in environmental economics to develop and apply natural capital accounting processes but ensuring the output adds value, is driven by outcomes, and the needs and context of specific projects are central to our approach.
