Written based on an interview with Mark Gough
CEO of the Capitals Coalition
Until now largely neglected in traditional wealth measurement systems due to its “economic invisibility”, the value provided by natural capital nevertheless forms the basis of our economies and societies through its multiple ecosystem benefits, whose degradation imposes external costs on society and on future generations. A better understanding of our dependence on these services has thus become an essential challenge for organizations to integrate, in order to address the considerable global challenges we are facing today, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and rising global inequity. In this end, many initiatives have emerged, both from public organizations and from the private sector, with more or less significant efforts and progressing results.
Nevertheless, the growing awareness of the interconnectedness of the challenges faced by our societies has added urgency to the need to invest in the various forms of capital – natural, social and human – to ensure their protection and continued value to our societies.
