The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership ‘The launch of the Natural Capital Protocol has led businesses to become more aware of their impacts and dependencies upon the natural environment. However, the metrics that are used to quantify impacts and dependencies across businesses are inconsistent and do not link to commercial drivers. This working paper sets out the outcomes of a small piece of qualitative research. It explores the use of different metrics for standard business processes by sustainability professionals, and the relationship of these metrics to natural capital measures.

Key findings are:

• There is a lack of consistency across natural capital impacts and dependencies measurements tracked by businesses; this is most marked for dependencies.
• Context is often not considered within natural capital measures.
• The metrics that companies currently use do not link well to commercial drivers; they are more aligned with compliance-based approaches than commercial opportunities.
• There is only limited guidance available to help companies link natural capital metrics to commercial drivers in business.
• Simple metrics are needed to enable companies to demonstrate their progress on securing natural capital, which also need to link to commercial business decisions.’

Click here to download the report.