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Natural Capital

How to start?

Preparatory to the actual natural capital assessment, it is important to gain a basic understanding of the triad between natural capital, society and one’s business through studying the foundational concepts and terms regarding natural capital. This orientation phase is about identifying natural capital impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities that a natural capital assessment can help address, and the potential uses of assessment results.

Getting started

Getting started means, before everything else, realizing the economic value in the clever utilization of ecosystem services and familiarizing oneself with the basic concepts of natural capital, such as ecosystem services, abiotic services, biodiversity and the very definition of ‘natural capital’ itself. It also involves mapping the interaction between natural capital, society and business. These basic concepts must then be applied to the context of the company, by recognizing potentially relevant dependencies, risks and opportunities with regard to natural capital. Both the Futureproof Community of MVO Nederland, which includes a helpdesk on natural capital, and the Natural Capital Quick Scan, a generic instrument posing 25 questions that lead to general yet sector-specific answers, serve this purpose. Finally, it is time to prepare for the actual natural capital assessment, by securing internal support for such an assessment, identifying potential applications of the results and planning the process. [+link naar 2.3]

Natural Capital Coalition (2016a), p. 10-23.

Futureproof Community.

Natural Capital Quick Scan.