The Natural Capital Initiative (NCI) is a partnership of UK science organisations which promotes and supports decision-making across government, business and the private sector that results in the sustainable management of our natural capital. It is a partnership between three leading science organisations in the UK: [1]
The Natural Capital Initiative is an influential convener of natural capital professionals, providing an independent platform for debate and joint working on natural capital challenges and solutions. Its vision is to grow a collaborative network that ensures sound natural capital science informs public policy and business decisions. NCI dialogues and publications make effective use of evidence to seek positive solutions that enhance natural capital for the benefit of people and nature. [1]
The Natural Capital Initiative was established in 2009 in response to the increasing global awareness of the need for more sustainable management of the world's limited natural resources, [2] as highlighted by the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. [3] It was launched in April 2009 at a three-day symposium held in London, entitled Valuing our Life Support Systems. [4] [5] [6]
Original partners included the Society of Biology, British Ecological Society and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. The James Hutton Institute joined the partnership in 2012. [7]
Since 2009, the NCI has organised two more Valuing our Life Support Systems summits in 2014 and 2019 to push forward the shared natural capital agenda. [8] [9] In addition, it has organised over 20 dialogue sessions on natural capital management and protection.
The Natural Capital Initiative events and publications have influenced UK policy directions and research agendas in many ways.
Recommendations from the 2009 symposium were included in the UK government own recommendations and resource documents to senior policy-makers. [6] The Natural Capital Committee, supported by DEFRA, evolved out of the UK Government's 2011 Natural Environment White Paper, as did the 48 Local Nature Partnerships established across England which focus on sustainable land management, greening economic growth and human health and well-being. [2]
In 2014 the NCI called on the UK government to introduce a natural capital accounting element into its national accounting framework, and supported the Natural Capital Committee's proposal for a 25-year Government plan for the UK Natural Environment, which has since been published. [10] [11]
The report from the Valuing our Life Support Systems 2014 was launched in June 2015 in a parliamentary event, chaired by Barry Gardiner MP. [12] The report spelled out the need for a methodology to be established for valuing natural capital. It also raised concerns there was a danger that natural capital could be treated as a commodity unless an ethical framework was in place to ensure the process of natural capital valuation was applied fairly and evenly. It urged that all natural capital concepts needed to be clear, evidence-based and robust, and it welcomed the Government's proposal to extend the life of the Natural Capital Committee. [13]
In 2019 the Defra chief scientific adviser Professor Sir Ian Boyd concluded that the summits have had an impact on government policy and the natural capital principle is now included in the 25-year environment plan and the environment bill. The summit report recommended a new way of working to engage more people. It highlighted the importance of nature for everyone's health and well-being and stressed the importance of the natural capital approach as a long-term investment across generations. [9]
The summit has definitely had an impact on policy. What we’ve seen since the last summit is the 25-year environment plan being developed by government and an environment bill is currently in front of parliament. Both of those have taken up the natural capital principle.
— Prof. Sir Ian Boyd, Defra chief scientific adviser (2019)
Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of these underpin our economy and society, and thus make human life possible.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the entire United Kingdom. Concordats set out agreed frameworks for co operation, between it and the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, which have devolved responsibilities for these matters in their respective nations.
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment.
Green Alliance is a charity and independent think tank based in central London, United Kingdom (UK).
Benjamin James Goldsmith is an English financier and environmentalist. The son of financier James Goldsmith and Lady Annabel Goldsmith he is founder and CEO of London-listed investment firm Menhaden, which focuses on the theme of energy and resource efficiency.
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent policy research institute whose stated mission is to "build a fairer, more sustainable world, using evidence, action and influence in partnership with others." Its director is Dr Tom Mitchell.
Rupert Read is an academic and a Green Party campaigner and a former spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. Read is a reader in philosophy at the University of East Anglia where he was awarded – as Principal Investigator – Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding for two projects on "natural capital". His other major recent academic focus has been on the precautionary principle, having contributed substantially to work co-authored with Nassim Nicholas Taleb on applying the principle to questions of genetic modification of organisms. In further work, Read has theorised the utility of the precautionary principle in a wide range of areas, including: climate change, the environment, as well as financial and technology sectors.
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long time. Specific definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Experts often describe sustainability as having three dimensions : environmental, economic, and social, and many publications emphasize the environmental dimension. In everyday use, sustainability often focuses on countering major environmental problems, including climate change, loss of biodiversity, loss of ecosystem services, land degradation, and air and water pollution. The idea of sustainability can guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels. A related concept is sustainable development, and the terms are often used to mean the same thing. UNESCO distinguishes the two like this: "Sustainability is often thought of as a long-term goal, while sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it."
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) was a study led by Pavan Sukhdev from 2007 to 2011. It is an international initiative to draw attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity. Its objective is to highlight the growing cost of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and to draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics and policy to enable practical actions. TEEB aims to assess, communicate and mainstream the urgency of actions through its five deliverables—D0: science and economic foundations, policy costs and costs of inaction, D1: policy opportunities for national and international policy-makers, D2: decision support for local administrators, D3: business risks, opportunities and metrics and D4: citizen and consumer ownership.
Driven grouse shooting is the shooting of the red grouse and a field sport in the United Kingdom. The grouse-shooting season begins on 12 August, often called the "Glorious Twelfth", ending on 10 December each year.
The Darwin Initiative is a UK Government funding program that aims to assist countries with rich biodiversity but poor financial resources to meet their objectives under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
The James Hutton Institute is an interdisciplinary scientific research institute in Scotland established in 2011, through the merger of Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute. The institute, named after Scottish geologist James Hutton, one of the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, combines existing Scottish expertise in agricultural research, soils and land use, and works in fields including food and energy security, biodiversity, and climate change. With more than 600 employees, the institute is among the largest research centres in the UK. It is a registered charity under Scottish law.
Sir Ian Lamont Boyd, is a Scottish zoologist, environmental and polar scientist, former Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and is a professor of biology at the University of St Andrews. He is Chair of the UK Research Integrity Office and President of the Royal Society of Biology.
Natural capital accounting is the process of calculating the total stocks and flows of natural resources and services in a given ecosystem or region. Accounting for such goods may occur in physical or monetary terms. This process can subsequently inform government, corporate and consumer decision making as each relates to the use or consumption of natural resources and land, and sustainable behaviour.
The Natural Capital Committee (NCC) was an independent body set up in 2012, initially for a three-year period, to report to the UK Government and advise on how to value nature and to ensure England's 'natural wealth' is managed efficiently and sustainably. During its first term it produced three reports to government on the 'State of Natural Capital'. It has called on the Office for National Statistics to integrate the state of the country's natural assets into mainstream national accounting.
Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) are partnerships of a broad range of influential organisations, businesses and people, and from a range of sectors, charged by government with the task of bringing about improvements in their local natural environment in England. To achieve this they are expected to ensure that consideration for the environment is put right at the heart of local decision-making.
Nature-based solutions (NBS) is the sustainable management and use of natural features and processes to tackle socio-environmental issues.
Rosemary S. Hails is a British population ecologist and entomologist and the current Director of Science and Nature at the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. Prior to this appointment she was the Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science for UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, managing and directing the science of 350 ecologists and hydrologists, in collaboration with the Science Director for Water and Pollution Science. Professor Hails successfully led the development of UKCEH's national capability research programme delivered by the Research Centre, which cuts across the complete portfolio of expertise. She has led the Valuing Nature Programme for NERC, since October 2014, and is currently a CoInvestigator in the NERC Funded "RENEW" and "RestReco" Projects. In 2000, she was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to environmental research.
Louise Heathwaite is a British environmental scientist. She is Distinguished Professor in the Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Research and Enterprise. She is a hydrochemist working on diffuse environmental pollution, especially the pathways of nitrogen and phosphorus loss from agricultural land to water.
Christopher Aidan Gilligan CBE, Sc.D. is Director of Research, Professor of Mathematical Biology and is Head of the Epidemiology and Modelling Group in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He was Head of the School of Biological Sciences at Cambridge from 2009 until 2013 and is a Fellow of King's College. He is currently a Trustee of the James Hutton Institute and is the King's Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
