2015 Stockholm Summit on Natural Capital: 9 Use Cases and the Natural Capital Science-Technology Platform

The report details the application of natural capital science and software tools across various sectors to integrate ecosystem services into decision-making. Key examples include the Inter-American Development Bank's infrastructure planning in Latin America, China's massive reforestation and zoning efforts, and corporate sustainability initiatives by Dow, Unilever, and Coca-Cola. It highlights the role of the Natural Capital Project's open-source tools, such as InVEST and OPAL, in quantifying the trade-offs between economic development and the preservation of natural assets like watersheds and coastal habitats.

• The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is integrating biodiversity and ecosystem service values into infrastructure planning and loan decisions in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically in Colombia, Barbados, and the Bahamas.
• Colombia has become one of the first countries to legally mandate the assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem service benefits for all development permitting decisions.
• The Bonn Challenge aims to restore 150 million hectares of degraded land globally by 2020 and an additional 200 million hectares by 2030, which could sequester enough carbon to reduce global emissions by 17 percent and add USD $200 billion to local and national economies.
• The Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund uses a combination of company data and independent research, including satellite imagery, to exclude companies from the fund based on criteria such as severe environmental damage.
• Dow Chemical's 'Valuing Nature' goal aims to generate USD $1 billion in net present value by 2025 through projects that benefit both the company and ecosystems; an example is a constructed wetland in Seadrift, Texas, which cost USD $1.5 million compared to a proposed USD $40 million traditional plant.
• Unilever is collaborating with The Natural Capital Project to develop software that identifies where biofeedstock expansion for bioplastic packaging can occur with minimal impact on carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and water quality, with initial scenarios run in Brazil and the U.S.
• China has invested over USD $150 billion in natural capital restoration since 2000 and is limiting development on 45% to 49% of its total land area through Ecosystem Function Conservation Areas (EFCAs).
• China is developing a new economic metric called Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) to report the total economic value of ecosystem goods and services alongside GDP.
• Water funds are being used in 38 major Latin American cities to finance upstream conservation for downstream water security; a projected USD $10 million investment in Nairobi's source watersheds is expected to return USD $21 million in economic benefits over 30 years.
• The Coca-Cola Company is piloting a project in Iowa's Cedar River Valley to use spatial data and optimization tools to site agricultural interventions that reduce pollution while maintaining production.
• The Natural Capital Project provides a technology platform hosting 19 open-source ecosystem service models and geospatial analytics tools used in over 100 countries to inform decisions on water supply, zoning, and habitat restoration.

APA

A., G., M., R., & G., D. (2015). 2015 Stockholm Summit on Natural Capital: 9 Use Cases and the Natural Capital Science-Technology Platform. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/879/r8af2gc85_Stockholm_paper.pdf

Chicago

A., Guerry,, Ruckelshaus, M., and Daily, G. 2015 Stockholm Summit on Natural Capital: 9 Use Cases and the Natural Capital Science-Technology Platform. WWF International, 2015. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/879/r8af2gc85_Stockholm_paper.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=A. |first1=Guerry, |last2=M. |first2=Ruckelshaus, |last3=G. |first3=Daily, |title=2015 Stockholm Summit on Natural Capital: 9 Use Cases and the Natural Capital Science-Technology Platform |publisher=WWF International |date=May 2015 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/879/r8af2gc85_Stockholm_paper.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{a20152015, author = {A., Guerry, and M., Ruckelshaus, and G., Daily,}, title = {{2015 Stockholm Summit on Natural Capital: 9 Use Cases and the Natural Capital Science-Technology Platform}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2015}, month = may, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/879/r8af2gc85_Stockholm_paper.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }