Forward Message from CEO

The global economic value produced by natural capital ecosystem services and biodiversity exceeds USD $150 trillion annually. (Boston Consulting)

World focus and the guiding principle must be that Natural Capital and its Ecosystem Services, is of foundational importance to the long-term sustainability of life on our planet. Its importance ranks equal to, if not higher, than any other social or economic challenge society currently face. Without sustaining the core integrity (amount, quality, sustainability) of water, rainfall patterns, rivers in the sky, biodiversity, clean atmosphere, carbon and soil at regional scales, societies will experience profound hardship and will ultimately collapse. The world’s history and current existence is full of examples of societies that failed due these unlearned lessons.

During the past two centuries, the global loss of Natural Capital has been well documented, as has its global consequences. These unfavourable outcomes are the unintended consequences of governance and policy architecture. Distilled to its basics, this is the result of economic equations that historically externalize the role of Natural Capital in decision making.

Because of this omission, economic and policy decisions naturally tend toward short-term economic benefits. The long-term costs to Natural Capital have never been included in decision making. This economic governance imbalance has led to exponential increases in human populations, food production, built infrastructure, and economic wealth, with all the benefits those bring. This has been at the expense of Natural Capital and ecosystem service degradation which can now be readily measured at local, regional, and global scales.