by Nick Saltmarsh, Sustainable Development SD Scene editor 4 Apr 2013
The independent Ecosystem Markets Task Force has published its final report, Realising nature’s value, reviewing the opportunities for UK business from expanding green goods, services, products, investment vehicles and markets which value and protect the natural environment.
Chaired by Ian Cheshire, Group Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher plc, the task force’s members include representatives of businesses and organisations including Unilever, Jaguar Land Rover, Environment Bank and the Aldersgate Group.
In stating the business case for why nature matters, the Ecosystem Markets Task Force‘s final report reaffirms that business is often unaware of its true reliance on nature. Natural systems provide us with a wide range of ecosystem services, including food, shelter, water, energy, health and air and protection from costly floods. In many cases, nature’s resources and services can provide all these dividends indefinitely, provided we look after them.
The report makes practical recommendations for both Government and business where interventions would assist in the creation and development of new markets, enhancing opportunities for growth that also benefit the environment. The overall context for these suggestions is described as the possible emergence of “a new economy that fully integrates the real value of nature”.
The emergence of a new economy
The Ecosystem Markets Task Force argues that a new approach to business and nature is needed, integrating the real value of nature into business thinking to maximise opportunities and manage future risks.
Some businesses, both large and small, are already pioneering a new way of looking at nature. These companies recognise that nature is a provider of vital resources and services, and that its value needs to be accounted for in both their day to day operations, as well as in investment decisions. They have seen how the traditional linear model of business and consumption – “take, make, discard” – degrades the essential services provided by nature, including its ability to deliver pest control, carbon capture, water replenishment, pollination, resource renewal and reduced flood risk. The linear model also continues to degrade biodiversity.
The report suggests that its overall context is the real possibility of the emergence of a new economy that fully integrates the real value of nature. The far-reaching implications for this include:
•Business needs to factor the real value of nature into its thinking now
•Business models will have to change as pressures on nature mount, and society and governments react
•A whole new set of business models will evolve based on the Circular Economy approach
•We will need new measures and standards to help reinforce these changes
•Regulators and government should support market mechanisms to help accelerate this trend
•Building on its leading academic position, UK has a new knowledge economy opportunity in this field
Recommendations
The report highlights five priority recommendations relating to opportunities that deliver substantial benefits for both nature and business:
•Biodiversity Offsetting: securing net gain for nature from planning and development
•Closing the loop: anaerobic digestion and bioenergy on farms
•Local wood fuel supply chains: active sustainable management supporting local economies
•Nature-based certification and labelling: connecting consumers with nature
•Water cycle catchment management: integrating nature into water, waste water and flood management
For each recommendation the report highlights the size of the opportunity, both in terms of its economic value and its potential benefits to nature.
In arriving at these recommendations the Task Force has been looking for priorities that will deliver both opportunities to business and real gains to nature. As part of this process, a significant evidence base has been generated over the last year which has helped to inform Task Force thinking, including wide-ranging analysis of all the opportunity areas identified.
UK Government response and next steps
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson welcomed the report’s findings on market opportunities to protect and improve the natural environment:
“This report shows that it is possible to boost the economy while at the same time we improve the environment.
“It’s fantastic to have these highly respected business leaders come up with so many potential opportunities for businesses. This independent report outlines ideas at the cutting edge of new markets which value and protect our natural environment.
“It adds new ideas and thinking in many areas that we’re already enthusiastically pursuing: such as biodiversity offsetting, anaerobic digestion and imaginative water management. We’ll be looking at all the recommendations and responding formally in the Summer.”
The Government will issue its official response to the Task Force’s report later this year. In the meantime Task Force members will continue to work with business leaders and organisations such as CBI, BITC and Cambridge Natural Capital Leaders Platform to get nature firmly onto business agendas. The Task Force would like to reconvene in one year’s time for a discussion with Government and other business leaders to assess progress since the Task Force’s report, and possible ways forward.
Original story available here – DEFRA UK