Mainstreaming Natural Capital

This document from the World Economic Forum (WEF) encourages all companies to adopt natural capital accounting.

The publication summarizes the progress made to date in integrating the value of natural capital into decision-making, including by:

• Global Standards for Natural Capital Accounting in the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (EEAS) (https://seea.un.org/).
• Expanded Frameworks for Assessing Nature's Risks and Opportunities at the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) (https://tnfd.global/).

The WEF paper recognizes that the debate on natural capital has expanded beyond a specific community of practitioners and now includes governments, businesses, investors, and civil society organizations, with the potential for broader and more connected application of sustainable development solutions.

The document raises and addresses the following issues:

• What market mechanisms can systematically value or price nature?
• How can we make data more accessible, solve methodological challenges, and build greater capacity?
• How can we make natural capital approaches more accessible to businesses?
• How to improve public-private collaboration to integrate natural capital?
• How can nature be placed at the centre of politics and culture?