Third Forum on Natural Capital Accounting for Better Policy Decisions

Three important international initiatives each seek to create enabling environments for better decision-making, by mainstreaming considerations of natural capital. The Forum on Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) for Better Policy, the Government Dialogue on Natural Capital, and the Combining Forces Initiative have joined up to hold a combined meeting on 26 to 27 November 2018 in Paris during what has been called Natural Capital Week 2018 (Paris, France).

The Forum on Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) for Better Policy Decisions is a yearly forum providing countries, international agencies and interested stakeholders a space to discuss the use of the natural capital accounting to support policies. The 2017 Forum highlighted the need for building collaboration with the private sector, which is making rapid progress in natural capital accounting and complementary approaches.

The Government Dialogue on Natural Capital provides a platform for governments to explore, understand and strengthen the role of governments and their interaction with the private sector in up-scaling and mainstreaming natural capital approaches. 

The Combining Forces Initiative focuses on building synergies between public and private approaches to natural capital with a view of generating trusted and credible information to inform decisions.

The Natural Capital Policy Forum will focus its discussion on how natural capital accounting and complementary approaches that can help in informing decisions, providing special insights on climate change and biodiversity.

The Natural Capital Policy Forum will be held from 26-27 November at the Palais Brongniart , Place de la Bourse in Paris, France in the Notre-Dame des Victoires room.

Background papers for the Forum

Natural capital accounting for mainstreaming biodiversity in public policy making

Arjan Ruijs (PBL) and Michael Vardon (ANU)

This report provides an overview of current and potential uses of the SEEA natural capital accounts for biodiversity related policy uses. Many countries currently experiment with biodiversity related accounts. Accounting can be applied to the management of conservation areas. But they are equally useful for policies sustaining the supply of ecosystem services and building resilient ecosystems, or for policies promoting sustainable use of ecosystem services by economic actors. For these policy uses, accounts from the SEEA Ecosystem Accounts as well as from the SEEA Central Framework prove to be useful. This report shows where the natural capital accounts are currently used and identifies opportunities for future advancements. While there are challenges to the production of biodiversity related accounts, the work to date shows that they can be produced and the key task now is to insert biodiversity accounting into the machinery of government. 

Natural capital accounting for mainstreaming climate change in decision making

Arjan Ruijs (PBL) and Cor Graveland (PBL)

This report provides an overview of potential and current uses of the SEEA natural capital accounts for climate change related policy uses. This refers to mitigation policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adaptation policies to prepare for the impacts of climate change. As climate change touches upon almost all areas of society, nearly all-natural capital accounts are useful. Many countries have already adopted a set of SEEA accounts for informing their mitigation polices, especially the air emission, energy and environmental protection expenditure accounts. Less countries use their natural capital accounts for informing adaptation actions, but those who use it show that adaptation policies benefit from the information in the accounts. As almost all-natural capital accounts are useful, it is important to choose wisely those accounts that can be used for the most urgent policy questions and policies mostly likely to be used.