Resource

Natural Capital Assessments at the National and Sub-national Level

Author/Contact:

Claire Brown

Senior Programme Officer

Claire.Brown@unep-wcmc.org

Publication date:

Resource description:

Almost all economic activities are dependent on 'natural capital' in some form or another. Natural capital refers to the stocks of the Earth's natural assets and resources, such as soil,water, air and biodiversity. Indeed, for business operations to successfully function long-term,and for human well-being to be sustained, this resource base must be maintained or restored. Conducting a Natural Capital Assessment demonstrates the key linkages between priority sector activities and the status and trends of natural capital in a planning unit. This helps to inform decision-making that supports long-term sustainable and inclusive economic growth; in turn, generating green jobs, reducing poverty and addressing ecological scarcity and environmental risks.

Requirements:

  • Early and consistent engagement and communication with stakeholders is central to developing a Natural Capital Assessment with relevant, credible and legitimate outputs.
  • Conducting a Natural Capital Assessment is highly resource intensive, involving a range of experts, stakeholders and administrative staff.

Advantages:

  • The guide presents an overview of the concepts of natural capitaland the green economy, as well as a framework for conducting a Natural CapitalAssessment in the context of a Green EconomyPlan.
  • A step-by-step guide to undertaking a Natural Capital Assessment, is presented, which includes: determining the scale of the assessment
  • identifying the key goals

Constraints:

  • The guidance is focussed on Africa, however, the approach set out is applicable in any region of the world.
  • The guidance presents a practical and stepwise approach to conducting a natural capital assessment,however, updating aspects of the approach are anticipated following feedback from its application'on the ground'to further develop the guidance set out

Additional information:

Brown, C., King, S., Ling, M., Bowles-Newark, N., Ingwall-King, L., Wilson, L., Pietila, K., Regan, E., & Vause, J. (2016). Natural Capital Assessments at the National and Sub-national Level. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK.

The Executive Summary is also in Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic and Russian.

Licence:

  • Free, no licence

Development stage:

  • Full, working product