The rise of natural capital accounting

Proponents of natural capital claim it could be the answer to the unrelenting decline of nature in the UK that no amount of targets, conventions or agri-environment schemes have arrested.

Natural capital refers to the elements of nature that create benefits for society and is based on accountancy principles: natural capital stocks (such as forests) provide ecosystem services (for example water attenuation) that can be valued in terms of their benefits (such as flood defence) to the economy.