The overall aim of the Forum is to share, explore and synthesize the experiences of countries that have been producing and using natural capital accounting (NCA) with the objective of providing guidance for countries on how to improve the use of accounting for policy development and better decision making.
September 15-16, 2021; Online Event
Background
This year's Policy Forum discussed practical ways in which Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) can make green recovery initiatives more effective and sustainable. The Policy Forum enabled the NCA community and those working on green recovery policies to discuss the data needs for green recovery policies and how NCA provides 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 discussed 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 discussed opportunities to make concrete inputs to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change and Biodiversity Convention CoPs.
The Forum was 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 were:
- To explore the progress and plans for green recovery across countries and in international initiatives.
- To highlight how NCA supports the integration of nature in green recovery efforts in a systematic and effective way; and
- 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 was held virtually over 2 days with two 3.5-hour sessions per day. The Forum was in two parts: the first part (Session 1) comprised a key-note speech, followed by a panel discussion, and the second part (Sessions 2-4) was for in-depth technical discussions.
Please find all the Policy Forum resources below:
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
Visit the Forum event page for the program with links to presentations
Fourth Policy Forum
November 18-21, 2019; Kampala, Uganda
The fourth Forum on Natural Capital Accounting for Better Policy took place on 18-19 November 2019 in Kampala, Uganda. The 2019 NCA Policy Forum, co-organized by the World Bank, United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the Government of Netherlands, and the Government of Uganda, brought together over 100 high-level participants including government representatives from developing and developed countries, as well as from organizations working on NCA, environmental-economic policy, and sustainable landscape management. This year`s theme was Measuring and valuing natural capital for improved landscape management. Two background papers were prepared to enable a richer discussion. The draft pre-Forum version can be downloaded below.
- PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency: Integrated Landscape Management and Natural Capital Accounting: Working Together for Sustainable Development by Johan Meijer, Ezra Berkhout, Chloe Hill and Michael Vardon
- The World Bank: World Bank Landscape Projects: What Role for Natural Capital Accounting? by Stefano Pagiola and Shun Chonabayashi
The participants explored how Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) and Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) could work together to accelerate both national agendas, such as land use planning and protection of ecosystem services, and to report on international goals and targets, such as the Bonn Challenge, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The proceedings and highlights of the Regional Forum have been compiled in a workshop report. Access the agenda and background papers here.
Back-to-back with the NCA Policy Forum, government presentative from 17 African countries and organizations working in Africa gathered at the Africa Regional NCA Policy Forum on Thursday November 21, 2019. The objective of this event was to form a Regional Community of Practice on NCA for Africa: identifying common challenges and opportunities and to discuss how countries can support each other in mainstreaming natural capital considerations into policy. The Community of Practice is supported by the World Bank, the Gaborone Declaration for a Sustainable Africa (GDSA), UNSD and the Government of Netherlands.
Third Policy Forum
November 26-27, 2018; Paris, France
Read the proceedings and highlights of the 3rd Forum on Natural Capital Accounting for Better Policy Decisions. The third forum was a joint meeting with the Government Dialogue on Natural Capital and the Combining Forces Initiative, under the theme of "Working together to improve decision making: Special insights on climate change and biodiversity." During the two-days meeting, participants shared knowledge and experiences to explore how natural capital accounting and complementary approaches can contribute to the two key global agendas of climate change and biodiversity. Participants also focused on how to create an enabling environment for natural capital accounting and assessments, through communication, mainstreaming, and exploring how governments and businesses could benefit from collaborating and coordinating efforts in this space. Read more in the feature story and Access the agenda and background papers
Second Policy Forum
November 22-23, 2017; The Hague, The Netherlands
The second forum brought together participants from 20 countries to exchange ideas about using NCA to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those relating to poverty, land, water, and green growth. There was also a special session on the application of NCA to the private sector, organized by the Natural Capital Coalition and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development.
The co-organizers were WAVES, MFA and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). The organizing committee also included the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) of the Netherlands, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) of the United Kingdom, and the Natural Capital Coalition. MFA, DFID, and the European Commission provided invaluable support. Read more in the feature story, access the agenda, background papers and presentations, find out who participated and the post-event publication - Natural capital accounting for the sustainable development goals: Current and potential uses and steps forward.
2nd Policy Forum publication: Applications for Sustainable Development
Part 1: Takeways
Ch.1 - Report of the 2nd Policy Forum on Natural Capital Accounting for Better Decision Making
Ch.3 - The Role of Business in Natural Capital Accounting and the Sustainable Development Goals
Part 2: Case Studies
Ch.6 - State of the Environment Reporting: A Natural Capital Accounting Approach
Ch.7 - SDG 13, the SEEA and New Zealand's Missing Carbon Tax
First Policy Forum
November 22-23, 2016; The Hague, The Netherlands
The first forum aimed to improve understanding of the links between NCA and policy so that NCA efforts are more relevant and timely. The event was organized by WAVES in collaboration with MFA; the organizing committee also included PBL. Lessons from the forum were synthesized into a publication (at left). Read more in the feature story, and access the agenda, background papers and presentations.