NATURAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGIES

This 2019 guidebook by WWF France provides a comprehensive overview of tools for measuring and managing natural capital. It categorizes tools into six types—biodiversity footprints, mapping, qualitative/quantitative, monetary, absolute ecological performance, and integrated accounting—and advocates for the adoption of 'strong sustainability' frameworks that respect scientific ecological boundaries rather than treating nature as a substitutable economic asset.

• Natural capital is defined as a stock of biotic resources (living organisms) and abiotic resources (non-living environment), which can be renewable or non-renewable. These resources provide ecosystem services categorized into supply services (e.g., food, fresh water), regulatory services (e.g., carbon sequestration, pollination), and cultural services (e.g., tourism, spiritual experiences).
• The guidebook categorizes natural capital tools into six technical groups: biodiversity footprint tools, mapping tools, qualitative and quantitative tools, monetary tools, "absolute" ecological performance tools, and integrated accounting tools.
• Biodiversity footprint tools, such as the Product Biodiversity Footprint (PBF), Global Biodiversity Score (GBS), and Biodiversity Footprint for Financial Institutions (BFFI), aim to quantify impacts on biodiversity using common units like the 'potentially disappeared fraction of species' (PDF) or 'mean species abundance' (MSA).
• The Biodiversity Impact Metric (BIM) specifically measures the impact of raw material production and land use for global supply chains by weighting land area by the quantity and quality of biodiversity loss, focusing on sectors like agri-food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
• Integrated accounting tools attempt to incorporate natural capital into financial reporting. The Environmental Profit & Loss (EP&L) account monetizes environmental externalities across a value chain, while the Comprehensive Accounting in Respect of Ecology - Triple Depreciation Line (CARE-TDL) treats natural and human capital as liabilities (debts) that must be maintained to ensure solvency.
• The Ecosystem Natural Capital Accounts (ENCA) and the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) provide frameworks for territorial and national accounting. ENCA focuses on biophysical stocks and depreciation of ecosystems, while the SEEA is an international statistical standard that integrates environmental and economic data.
• WWF France distinguishes between tools oriented toward 'economic performance' (which focus on utilitarian interests, risks, and opportunities) and those oriented toward 'ecological performance' (which require operating within scientific ecological limits).
• WWF France identifies a specific ecosystem of tools that align with the principles of strong sustainability and ecological performance, including the SBT Network, One Planet Thinking, CARE-TDL, ENCA, Future Fit Business Benchmark, and the Global Biodiversity Score.

APA

Green Economy Coalition (2019). NATURAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGIES. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/WWF-France-2019_Natural-capital-tools-guide_Final.pdf

Chicago

Green Economy Coalition. NATURAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGIES. 2019. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/WWF-France-2019_Natural-capital-tools-guide_Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Economy Coalition |title=NATURAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGIES |date=October 2019 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/WWF-France-2019_Natural-capital-tools-guide_Final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greeneconomycoalition2019natural, author = {{Green Economy Coalition}}, title = {{NATURAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGIES}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2019}, month = oct, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/WWF-France-2019_Natural-capital-tools-guide_Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }