Sep 15, 2021 to Sep 16, 2021

Fifth Policy Forum on Natural Capital Accounting for Better Decision Making – Greening the Recovery

Sep 15, 2021 to Sep 16, 2021
ONLINE Event

 

Background

This year's Policy Forum will discuss practical ways in which Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) can make green recovery initiatives more effective and sustainable. The Policy Forum will enable the NCA community and those working on green recovery policies to discuss the data needs for green recovery policies and how NCA can provide those needs to guide green recovery efforts and institutional reforms.

Analysis shows that biodiversity and natural capital have been comparatively neglected in recovery efforts to date and there is a need to find better ways of including them. The Policy Forum will discuss how NCA supports nature-based solutions and biodiversity – areas where NCA has a good track record.  With the recent adoption of the SEEA Ecosystem Accounting Framework and the advancements in economic-ecological modeling, the potential to contribute to green recovery initiatives has increased. The Policy Forum will discuss opportunities to make concrete inputs to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change and Biodiversity Convention CoPs.

The Forum is co-organized by the World Bank’s Global Program on Sustainability (GPS), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and the Government of the Netherlands.

The objectives of the Policy Forum are: 

  1. To explore the progress and plans for green recovery across countries and in international initiatives.
  2. To highlight how NCA supports the integration of nature in green recovery efforts in a systematic and effective way; and
  3. To explore potential for collaboration among those working on green recovery and on NCA in shaping policies, institutions and priority actions for recovery and sustainable development.

The Policy Forum will be held virtually over 2 days with two 3.5-hour sessions per day.  The Forum will be in two parts: the first part (Session 1) will comprise a key-note speech, followed by a panel discussion, and the second part (Sessions 2-4) will be for in-depth technical discussions.

Background paper :Greening the recovery to make it last: The role of natural capital accounting

Blog:Greening the recovery with natural capital accounting 

Pre-forum survey final results  

Post-forum survey final results

Feature story 

Forum Proceedings

Program with links to presentations:

Time (EDT)

ACTIVITY

7:00-10:30

DAY 1: September 15, 2021

7:00–8:30

SESSION 1 – High-level segment: The big picture on green recovery and natural capital - challenges and opportunities 

Moderator: Steve Bass, IIED

7:00-7:15

Opening and introduction to Forum theme and objectives

 

Speakers:

  • Karin Kemper, Global Director, Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global Practice, World Bank
  • Stefan Schweinfest, Director, United Nations Statistics Division
  • Carmen Hagenaars, Deputy Director, Inclusive Green Growth Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands

7:15-7:45

Keynote speech

 

Speaker:

 Prof. Diane Coyle, Co-Director, Bennett Institute for Public Policy, Cambridge University

Presentation: Greening the Recovery – and Beyond

Q&A (via chat box)

7:45-8:10

High-level panel – Natural capital and green recovery: what decisions we need to make and what information will help us

 

Panelists:

  • H.E. Minister Yasmine Fouad, Environment Minister, Egypt (video message)
  • Juergen Voegele, Vice President, Sustainable Development, World Bank
  • Elliott Harris, Chief Economist and Assistant Secretary-General Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations

8:10-8:25

Plenary Q&A

 

Q&A (via chat box)

8:25-8:30

Closing of Session 1

 

Karin Kemper, Global Director, World Bank

8:30-8:45

Break

8:45–10:30

SESSION 2 – NCA and green recovery: global overview and country cases

8:45-9:00

Housekeeping – Welcome and warm-up

Moderator: Steve Bass

9:00-9:20

Presentation of Background paper: “Greening the recovery to make it last: The role of natural capital accounting”

Moderator: Raffaello Cervigni, World Bank

 

Presenters:

  • Paul Lucas, Researcher Sustainable development and international climate policy, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
  • Michael Vardon, Associate Professor, Australian National University

Presentation 1: Greening the recovery to make it last: The role of natural capital accounting

Presentation 2: Pre-forum survey

9:20-9:40

Participant interaction (Q&A via chat box)

9:40-10:25

Country experiences, challenges and plans in using natural capital approaches in green recovery

Moderator: Marko Javorsek, United Nations Statistics Division

 

Speakers:

  • Presentation, Yusuf Murangwa, the Director General of National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda
  • Presentation, Catherine Farrell, Research Fellow, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
  • Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, India

 

Q&A (via chat box)

10:25-10:30

Wrap up for Day 1

Moderator: Steve Bass

   

7:00-10:40

DAY 2: September 16, 2021

7:00–8:45

SESSION 3 – Exploring progress, innovations and prospects from international organizations

7:00-7:15

Recap and introduction to Day 2 agenda

Moderator: Steve Bass

7:15-7:35

Update – ‘tracker’ initiatives on country progress in linking green recovery and natural capital 

Moderator: Steve Bass

 

OECD Green Recovery Database

Speaker: Andrew Prag, Senior Advisor, Environment Directorate, OECD

Presentation:How green is the recovery? Insights from the OECD green recovery database

 

Green Economy Coalition (GEC) Green Economy Tracker

Speaker: Najma Mohammed, Policy Director, GEC

Video: How To Build A Green Economy: INVESTING IN NATURE FIRST 

Presentation:No country is exempt. The race is on.

Q&A (via chat box)

7:35-8:10

Other experiences and needs – lightning talks on contributions submitted by countries and organizations

Moderator: Sonu Jain, World Bank

 

Breakout room a (Facilitator: Sonu Jain, WB)

 

Breakout room b (Facilitator: Marko Javorsek, UNSD)

 

Breakout room c (Facilitator: Michael Vardon, ANU)

8:10-8:25

Break

8:25-8:55

New developments in accounting and modelling for green recovery and natural capital

Moderator: Steve Bass

 

Accounting:

Presenter: Alessandra Alfieri, Chief Environmental Economic Accounts Section, United Nations Statistics Division

Presenter: Ken Bagstad, Research Economist, United States Geological Survey

 

Economic-ecological modelling / scenarios:

Presenter: Andrea Bassi, Founder and CEO, KnowlEdge Srl

Presenter: Raffaello Cervigni, Lead Environmental Economist, World Bank

8:55-9:15

Participant Q&A (via chat box)

9:15-9:20

Wrap up for Session 3

Moderator: Steve Bass

9:20-10:40

SESSION 4 – Next steps: priority action agenda and message from the Forum

9:20-9:35

Priority actions for NCA to help green recovery

Moderator: Steve Bass

 

Recap: a summary of apparent priorities from the presentations and discussions in Sessions 1-3; polling on priorities

9:35-10:05

Breakout session on action agenda – better information and accountability on natural capital in green recovery

10:05-10:25

Breakout groups’ feedback

10:25-10:35

Wrap up

Moderator: Steve Bass

 

Closing reflections:

  • Paul Lucas, Researcher Sustainable development and international climate policy, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
  • Alessandra Alfieri, Chief Environmental Economic Accounts Section, United Nations Statistics Division
  • Oliver Greenfield, Convenor, Green Economy Coalition on behalf of Partners for Inclusive Green Economy
  • Raffaello Cervigni, Lead Environmental Economist, World Bank