The natural capital approach: a concept paper

Natural Capital is gaining considerable interest as a means for devising policies that reconcile economic and environmental imperatives.This concept paper, funded by Environment Canada, explores the Natural Capital Approach  as a means for identifying and quantifying natural resources and associated ecosystem goods and services that can help integrate ecosystem-oriented management with economic decision-making and development.

The authors describe the Environment Canada National Capital (NC) framework as a broad and comprehensive outline that lacks an implementation strategy. They argue that this void can be filled by the Canadian System of Environmental and Resource Accounts (CSERA), which provides a foundation for building a NC informatics architecture.

The report concludes that an NC-based pilot study led by Environment Canada will be invaluable to gain experience applying the CSERA and designing NC preservation and enhancement policies; these insights can then be used to enhance the current Environment Canada NC framework. The authors argue that a pilot study will assist in demonstrating:

• the utility of the CSERA for environmental policy analysis and development
• the policy saliency of an NC and ecosystem services valuation exercise
• the relevance of NC and ecosystem services valuation for analysing and justifying NC stewardship and restoration programming in economic terms to key agencies such as the Treasury Board