The Protocol is a standardized framework for business to identify, measure and value its impacts and dependencies on natural capital.
WBCSD has been leading technical development of the Protocol on behalf of the Coalition, alongside a consortium of experts from business, service providers, academia, NGOs and others. A partner consortium led by IUCN has been managing the business engagement, pilot testing and development of two supporting sector guides, for Apparel and Food & Beverage.
The Protocol is a fundamental part of our Redefining Value program, which focuses on the need for better measurement, valuation and reporting of sustainability information, in a way that makes it useful for business decision-making and strategy.
Our vision is that by 2050, businesses can talk about their true profit, true cost, and true value, in a way that ensures the most sustainable companies are also the most successful. The Natural Capital Protocol is an important step in this journey because it offers a generally accepted process for business to generate robust, credible and actionable information that can better inform decision-making.
The Protocol was developed for business, with business– over 50 companies participated in the pilot. The Coalition’s consultation on the draft Protocol resulted in over 3,200 comments from nearly 60 members and over 20 Global Network Partners. We considered each of these comments to ensure voice of business was integrated throughout.
The project is a triumph of collaboration, and it shows what’s possible when leading businesses and organizations come together to build something that benefits the broader community. We are excited to see how business can take this agenda forward as they progress integration of natural capital into their own decision-making processes.
Stay tuned for the Natural Capital Protocol global launch: Coming to a business near you on 13 July.
Other initiatives:
- WBCSD, in partnership with the Natural Capital Coalition, is also leading the development of a Natural Capital Protocol ‘Toolkit’. The Toolkit will become an interactive database of all relevant methodologies, tools and approaches that can help a user to carry out a natural capital assessment, mapped against the Protocol framework. The project will build on existing efforts such as WBCSD’s Eco4Biz, Natural Capital Coalition’s Taking Stock, and BSR’s Making the Invisible Visible.
- The Natural Capital Protocol is a sister project to the Social Capital Protocol, also in development at WBCSD and currently in the pilot stage.
For more information on WBCSD’s work on natural capital measurement and valuation, or on the Toolkit project, contact Eva Zabey and Hannah Pitts.
