Natural capital

DEFINITION: The elements of the natural environment that provide valuable goods and functions such as clean air, clean water, food and recreation. Natural capital accounting puts a value on these resouerces. Each year, the planet produces up to $72trn worth of 'free' goods and services that are essential to a well-functioning global economy.

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If successful, a $2bn carbon credit fund will be launched as a follow-up

HSBC signs up for new $1bn natural capital investment fund

HSBC has partnered with Pollination to launch what it is describing as the first large-scale investment fund focused solely on nature conservation and restoration.
According to WWF, nature loss will cost the global economy at least £8trn by 2050 

Banking giants team up for Task Force for Nature-related Financial disclosures

AXA and BNP Paribas are among a group of 10 major banks backing a new initiative intended to help corporates measure, disclose and minimise their nature-related financial risks.
Around 80% of the UK’s environmental laws have been forged in partnership with other nations in Europe

Defra unveils natural capital 'assessment' funding as post-Brexit green recovery shapes up

Environment Minister George Eustice has announced a new £5m Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment to protect the UK's environment as part of a new package of Environment Bill measures, on the same day that the Government unveiled a £16m sustainable farming package in South America.
(L-R) Steve Cann, Future Food Solutions; Andrew Walker, Yorkshire Water; Lee Pitcher, Yorkshire Water; James Hopwood, Birds Eye, and; Paul Rhodes, Future Food Solutions, 

Yorkshire Water and Birds Eye to support carbon-capturing 'pop up rainforest'

A new business collaboration in the Humber region looks set to create a "pop up rainforest" that will help farmers plant a diverse range of cover crops that will capture carbon, reduce flooding risk and improve soil health.
The world’s ecosystems have declined in size and condition by 47% globally compared to estimated baselines

UN: Finance giants must urgently set biodiversity targets and aim for 'net-positive'

Despite the continued trends towards divestment from big emitters and investment in low-carbon technologies, the world's biggest finance firms are failing to address biodiversity loss caused by organisations within their portfolios.

#SustyTalk: Ecover's Tom Domen on nature restoration and the refill revolution

edie's #SustyTalk interview series continues with Ecover & Method's head of long-term innovation Tom Domen outlining the firm's decision to grant £500,000 to nature restoration projects.
A play on 'build back better', the letter urges measures to help the UK 'grow back better' by taking more ambitious action on nature

25,000 jobs could be created through nature investment, charities tell Treasury

By providing funding for 330 "shovel-ready" nature restoration projects, the UK Government could create 10,000 jobs in the short-term and a further 15,000 in the long-term, while putting itself on track to meet key climate, biodiversity, tree planting and wellbeing targets.
Bodies including the UN believe that the world is currently facing a nature crisis in tandem with the climate crisis

Commit to nature restoration in your green Covid-19 recovery plans, businesses urged

Businesses including Danone and Unilever have pledged to work with governments to reverse nature loss as part of their Covid-19 recovery plans, following a call to action from NGOs and trade bodies.
EP&L assigns a monetary value to environmental and social impacts

Gucci cuts negative environmental impacts by two-fifths

Luxury fashion house Gucci has reduced its overall negative impact on the environment by 39% since 2015, putting it on track to exceed its 2025 target of a 40% reduction.
The projects will receive funding and assistance to develop business plans with the aim of attracting additional private sector investment

Defra backs natural capital investment projects

Four projects focused on protecting and restoring natural habitat across the UK are being backed by Government funding as part of a pilot scheme to funnel more private sector investment into the natural environment.
Both internally and externally the tools are being developed and a movement is emerging to kickstart a new era of sustainable business.

Chief value officers and ESG investors: What could green finance look like in the new normal?

Whatever the new normal looks like once nations have battled their way through the coronavirus, the recent rhetoric around green finance suggests that both internally externally, the value of sustainability to a business is set to grow.
Yorkshire Tea worked with TIST (The International Small Group and Tree Planting Programme) to encourage smallholder tea farmers to plant fruit and nut trees around tea gardens

Yorkshire Tea achieves carbon-neutral certification for operations and products

Yorkshire Tea has announced that all its products are carbon neutral from field to shelf, following a five-year programme to reduce emissions across its supply chain and operations.
The charities are asking for additional short-term emergency funding to cover costs for vital work.

Coronavirus: Environmental charities braced for long-term financial turmoil

Nature and conservation charities have expressed concern that the Government's £750m aid package for charities will not be enough to stop the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak from stifling efforts to tackle climate change and protect nature over the coming years.
Verde Nieto is a globally recognized figure in the sustainability field, having been trained by Al Gore at the Alliance of Climate Change

Positive Luxury: In the 'year of nature', greenwashing and incremental improvements won't cut it

EXCLUSIVE: As businesses strive to tackle the intertwined climate and resource crises, they must place nature and biodiversity at the centre of all financial considerations in 2020, a new forecast featuring input from Paul Polman, WWF and Paul Hawken warns.
The aim is to funnel more investment into projects working to minimise fashion's negative impacts on people and planet. 

Fresh funding for initiative to help investors support sustainable fashion

Laudes Foundation, Brenninkmeijer family's recently-launched philanthropic organisation, has backed a project working to engage investors with sustainable fashion, in a bid to scale up low-carbon, resource-efficient materials and business models across the global sector.
Most of the costs will be caused by the loss of natural coastal protection services, which in turn will lead to increased flooding 

Nature loss to rock global economy by £8trn by 2050

The UK is set to take an annual economic hit of at least £16bn through the destruction of natural ecosystems, with global costs set to spiral to almost £8trn by 2050, a new WWF report has warned.
The Coalition represents more than 50 organisations, including businesses, NGOs and think tanks 

Green Economy Tracker: New digital tool aims to help nations transition to greener economic systems

The Green Economy Coalition - an alliance of big-name businesses, NGOs and researchers - has today (23 January) unveiled a new tool which will help nations measure and accelerate their transitions to economic systems which are more environmentally friendly and socially fair.
Flooding has caused havoc across the UK over the last few months

Flooding and coastal damages risking £12bn to UK economy

Rising sea levels, storms and flooding driven by climate change has placed more than £12bn of the UK's economy at risk, according to new findings from WWF which warns that almost 2.5 million homes in the UK will be at risk of flooding by 2050.
The challenge calls for businesses to invest in “nature-based solutions” such as enhancing biodiversity and reforestation to act as carbon sinks

Gucci boss calls on business leaders to deliver net-zero supply chains

Gucci chief executive Marco Bizzarri has called on business leaders to sign up to a Carbon Neutral Challenge that sees businesses deliver greenhouse gas emissions reductions across their entire value chain in order to achieve net-zero emissions.
Gough believes that corporates must make capitals thinking a core foundation for business decisions, rather than keeping it within a trial or side-project

'To truly embed sustainability, businesses must redefine value itself'

EXCLUSIVE: As ever more companies strive for sustainability which stretches beyond the confines of a separate CSR department, they will need to explore ways to define success beyond monetary value.
The Government has unveiled how it plans to leave the environment in a better state 

Deposit return schemes and biodiversity net-gain: Raft of new policies unveiled in Environment Bill

The UK Government has launched its new governance system on issues covering clean air, waste management and plastics pollution, natural capital approaches and water stewardship, in the form of the long-awaited Environment Bill.