- Firm
- Provisional
- Coming soon
- Revised
- Firm
- Provisional
- Coming soon
- Revised
How well are we doing?
Editor's note: We have recently refreshed and updated our data for all countries on the platform, as we revised the 21 policies we cover.
Natural resources, like water or minerals, and natural services, like pollination or the nitrogen cycle, are fundamental to life on earth. They form the foundations of our societies and our economies, but these crucial resources are badly measured, and thus poorly integrated into economic planning. Natural capital accounts help us to track the stocks of natural “capital” – such as mineral reserves, clean air, a stable climate, or biodiversity – and flows of services and benefits to the economy and our societies. To become truly sustainable, economies and governments need to take account of the value of nature, in all its complexity and ensure that governance structures are in place to provide independent expert advice and oversight on finance and planning decisions.
Of the 41 countries reviewed, all 41 had at least some form of government engagement with natural capital accounting. Leading the way in this policy area is Sweden, with a well-integrated approach that links environmental metrics to economic data, supported by coordinated environmental monitoring, robust oversight and guidance, and institutional arrangements that provide expert advisory functions. Other high-performing countries include Mexico, which participates in the Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) project and is developing SEEA-compliant accounts for forests, water, and ecosystems.
Showing comparatively lower performance were a small diverse group made up of Bangladesh, Peru, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Portugal in particular lags behind its EU counterparts, with no evidence of natural capital accounts integrated into national policy.
[Natural Capital Accounting] helps to integrate natural resources into economic analysis and can provide a broader picture of development progress and the real wealth of our country.
About this policy
Natural capital accounting is in some ways quite a simple approache to physical and statistical accounts that track national stocks of natural resources and the flows of services and benefits to society. They can also attempt to provide a relative or financial value of these 'capital accounts' to the economy, in a comparable way to other kinds of capital - such as human, or financial capital
This extra information is vital because most current policymaking either ignores or marginalises the importance of nature, especially intangible or complex natural processes like climate change. Nature’s value remains largely invisible to traditional economic models, and the politicians and businesses who use them – leading to harmful and sometimes dangerous policies. Natural capital accounts can help make the value of nature “visible” in policymaking, and so guide governments, businesses and people towards more sustainable decisions.
Measuring the worth of nature is a complex and controversial process, however. It requires methodological rigour, combined with a sensitivity to how nature’s value is perceived differently according to context, community, and purpose. A single mountain, for example, may be assessed according to the value of the mineral deposits it contains, the economic impact of tourists who visit it, the myriad of complex ecosystems it supports, its meteorological impact on weather and climate, the spiritual value it has for local communities – and many others besides.
The strongest policy approaches match comprehensive accounting processes with governance structures that can give independent, expert dvice to guide government budget and policy decisions. Less comprehensive approaches will match a lack of strategy on natural capital with weaker oversight roles for experts, or will stay away from mandatory policy assessments incorperating multi-capitals.
Case Study: United Kingdom
The UK’s natural capital accounts are considered amongst the best in the world. Compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) since 2011, these accounts have been successfully integrated into policymaking and underpin the 25 Year Environment Plan, launched in 2018. In addition to monitoring physical stocks and flows of natural assets, the accounts also attempt to make a partial economic valuation of UK nature; in 2015, for example, the value of UK natural capital was estimated to be £761 billion, with “58% of this value… attributable to cultural and regulating services (recreation, pollution removal and carbon sequestration).”
Case Study: Costa Rica
Costa Rican accounts are managed by the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) and since 2012 have covered water, energy and forestry. For the BCCR, the concept of sustainability is central to its mandate - as is the promotion of ‘sustainable economic growth and efficient use of Costa Rica's productive resources’, including natural resources. Integration of capital accounts into policymaking is at an early stage, but the Integrated Economic-Environmental Modelling (IEEM) Platform allows estimation of the economic and environmental impact of policies simultaneously.
In partnership with the World Bank’s Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) project, Costa Rica has developed forests, water, and energy accounts, which have already informed the National Development Plan 2015–18. This process has been managed by a cross-government commission, composed of the (BCCR) and the ministries of Finance (MdH), Environment (MINAE), National Planning (MIDEPLAN), and Statistics (INEC). While not a fully independent body, the commission draws on external expertise provided by the World Bank and has a strong mandate to inform government.