As of December 2016, Ecomatters is an official member of the Natural Capital Coalition. The Natural Capital Coalition is a unique global multi-stakeholder collaboration that brings together leading global initiatives and organizations to harmonize approaches to natural capital.
Natural capital is another term for the stock of renewable and non-renewable resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils, minerals) that combine to yield a flow of benefits to people. Companies grow financial capital in large part through the use, exploitation and degradation of natural capital. Where traditionally these ‘externalities’ of production were of little consequence to a company’s branding, risk profile, or cash flow, companies currently find that by increasing their positive and decreasing their negative impacts they can grow their revenue, cut costs and reduce risk.
In July 2016, the Natural Capital Coalition launched the Natural Capital Protocol to support companies to incorporate natural capital impacts in their decision-making processes. While providing a standardized framework to identify, measure and value impacts and dependencies on natural capital, the Protocol remains flexible in the choice of measurement and valuation approaches used. The Protocol thus does not explicitly list or recommend specific tools or methodologies. As a result, there is a strong call for practical implementation methodologies.
As a specialist in the field of life cycle management, Ecomatters aims to bridge the gap between ‘life cycle thinking’ and ‘natural capital thinking’. To this end, we have sought to find a monetisation method applicable to the full spectrum of life cycle impacts of a company, product, or activity as determined by means of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). We believe to have found a suitable method for the EPS system.
Ecomatters has supported AkzoNobel in the implementation of natural capital assessment by means of EPS monetisation within the 4-Dimensional Profit & Loss (4D P&L) accounting project. Focused on the book value chain, the 4D P&L project has assessed natural capital in parallel with financial, social, and human capital. The results of this project were demonstrated to support the identification of improvement opportunities and facilitate effective communication and decision-making processes.
To help you implement Natural Capital assessment in your organisation, Ecomatters has written the implementation guide on “Natural capital assessment – environmental impact costing”. Please visit www.ecomatters.nl/natural-capital to download a free copy of this practical guide.
