Natural Capital 101: Guide for Sustainability Professionals

The idea of natural capital – understanding impacts and dependencies on nature – is growing in popularity among some public and private organisations but is not yet widely understood.

A survey of ISEP’s Biodiversity and Natural Capital Network members showed that sustainability professionals want to know more on the concept and its application. This month, ISEP has produced a new paper on this topic: ‘Natural capital 101 – Insights for sustainability professionals’.

The paper is co-authored by Lesley Wilson, ISEP Policy and Engagement Lead, along with Dr Alison Holt, Director at Natural Capital Solutions and Dr Stephanie Hime, Managing Director at Little Blue Research.

Natural capital 101 aims to define the concept of natural capital, why it’s important and what benefits taking a natural capital approach can bring. We are endeavoring to empower sustainability professionals and drive holistic decision making.

The paper should help nature to be considered within an organisation at the same level as other key risks and opportunities, such as climate change, and enable this knowledge to be used in a way that benefits the natural world, our economy, and society.

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The contents of the paper are:

What is natural capital?
Why take a natural capital approach?
What is a natural capital assessment?
Valuing natural capital
Natural capital accounting basics
What helps to make a successful natural capital assessment
Key terms
Additional resources
This is not a step-by-step guide to be used as a methodology but is designed to shed light on the concepts and approaches to natural capital using accessible language, frameworks and lots of references where you can find out more.

ISEP members can download their copy here

Non-ISEP members can purchase the document here (under 'Biodiversity and Natural Capital')


Published by:
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Lesley Wilson AISEP

Policy and Engagement Lead

Lesley is Policy and Engagement Lead at ISEP with a focus on the rapidly developing area of biodiversity and natural capital. On behalf of ISEP, Lesley also supports and is a member of the Steering Group of the UK Business and Biodiversity Forum. Lesley has worked in environmental sustainability for 15 years and previously delivered programmes and solutions in sustainability for business at the British Standards Institution, including ground breaking standards in biodiversity net gain and natural capital. Lesley has a qualifications in business management (MBA) and climate change management, and mentors environmental students at the University of Westminster.