Guidance from Defra and the outcomes of a major review from Eftec of natural capital accounting.
ENCA guidance is a comprehensive document providing information and resources for Natural Capital. It covers:
- the natural capital framework
- economic valuation of the environment
- how project or policy appraisal can incorporate natural capital
- natural capital accounting principles and methods, benefits and challenges
- applying natural capital at a local level’
Eftec: Taking Stock of Natural Capital Accounting Practices in the UK – Our Briefing in Partnership with COWI
We are delighted to have had the opportunity to take stock of our experience with natural capital accounting in the UK over the last five or so years. The briefing note we prepared for COWI is now available to all and can be accessed on our website.
The briefing summarises the key lessons we have learnt from the development of the Corporate Natural Capital Accounting framework (2015) and the Natural Capital Protocol (2016), to over 60 accounts we have completed since then and our involvement in the upcoming British Standards Institution’s standard on the approach. The completed accounts range from national and sub-national accounts for the public sector and organizational accounts for businesses in water, agriculture, forestry, energy, finance, transport, and chemicals sectors.
Key takeaways
The briefing identifies the influence of public policies and institutions (such as ONS, Defra, and HM Treasury) in incentivising, adopting, and promoting natural capital accounting and the leadership of individual champions and trusted sector advisers in ensuring accounts are integrated into the wider decision-making of their clients. So far, accounts have been used to make business cases for public and charitable sector funding and to unveil the importance of natural capital assets for the financial sustainability of businesses.
Looking to the future, our briefing encourages readers to familiarise themselves with the upcoming BSI Standard on Natural Capital Accounting for Organisations when it is released in May 2021 – followed by a launch webinar on 15th June at 2-3:30 pm (Hold the date for now, links will follow). In the longer term, we anticipate a closer integration of natural capital and financial accounting, the development of auditing or second opinion services, and the use of natural capital accounting as a monitoring and evaluation tool for green finance. To view and download the briefing, click here.
Tim Sunderland shared a post: I’m really pleased to add our Natural Capital Handbook to my publications list. It’s a distillation of years of (sometimes painful) experience in strategic natural capital planning, and points you to relevant Natural England resources.
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