NATURAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGIES: AN OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE TOOLS

The document categorises natural capital tools into six technical groups: biodiversity footprint, mapping, qualitative/quantitative, monetary, absolute ecological performance, and integrated accounting. It distinguishes between tools oriented toward economic performance (utilitarian interests) and those oriented toward ecological performance (strong sustainability), advocating for the latter to ensure activities remain within planetary boundaries.

• The guidebook identifies six categories of natural capital tools based on technical features: 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) and Global Biodiversity Score (GBS), aim to represent the impact of various pressures on a common unit, typically linked to a unit of area, for reporting or strategic management.
• Mapping tools like the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) and InVEST use spatial modelling to show the location of ecosystems and ecosystem services, helping companies identify risks and opportunities regarding remarkable biodiversity.
• Qualitative and quantitative tools, including the Natural Capital Protocol and the Business and Biodiversity Interdependence Indicator (BBII), help organisations describe their reliance on and impact on ecosystems to improve decision-making.
• Monetary tools, such as the Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation (CEV), translate environmental impacts and dependencies into economic units to integrate them into traditional cost-benefit analyses.
• Absolute ecological performance tools, such as One Planet Approaches (OPA) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), focus on setting environmental objectives based on the biophysical capacities of the biosphere and planetary boundaries.
• Integrated accounting tools are split into microeconomic tools for organisations (e.g., <IR> and EP&L) and macroeconomic tools for territories (e.g., ENCA and SEEA) to report on the use and state of natural capital.
• The document distinguishes between 'weak sustainability' (where different types of capital are interchangeable) and 'strong sustainability' (where natural capital is not substitutable due to its unique functions and scientific limits).
• WWF France's Natural Capital Programme promotes tools aligned with strong sustainability and ecological performance, specifically highlighting SBTN, One Planet Thinking, CARE-TDL, ENCA, and the Future Fit Business Benchmark.

APA

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

Chicago

Green Economy Coalition. NATURAL CAPITAL AND ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGIES: AN OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE TOOLS. 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: AN OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE TOOLS |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: AN OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE TOOLS}}, 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} }