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Trends Natural capital 2/4


ple, and the adverse effect when assets are reduced, damaged or lost. It is a rec- ognition that the pursuit of economic growth must not come at the expense of future growth potential. There’s a business imperative too. Our environment provides us with $72 trillion worth of ‘free’ goods and services each year, but its degradation costs us rough- ly the equivalent of 8% of GDP. With our natural resources being impacted by a range of pressures, such as damag- ing climate change and biodiversity loss, proponents of natural capital accounting argue that preserving these assets must become an explicit, accountable, and implemented element of policy to pro- tect our future wealth and wellbeing. The concept of natural capital there- fore holds significant interest for all


Certified well-managed forestry can help support a range of biodiversity


businesses. Placing a monetary value on these resources can help us understand the true worth of our economic sustain- ability.


The growing importance of natural


capital accounting is evidenced by its discussion at Rio+20 last June and the UK Government’s promise to reform its national accounts to reflect natural wealth by 2020. Even the World Bank,


Our environment provides us with $72 trillion worth of ‘free’ goods and services each year, but its degradation costs us roughly the equivalent of 8% of GDP


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