NESP Webinar: Policy Applications of Natural Capital Accounts in the U.S.
Listen to part two of our series on Natural Capital Accounts (NCA). The first covered piloting natural capital accounts for land, water, ecosystems, and urban ecosystem services.
During this webinar you’ll hear about three examples of policy applications for NCA. Eli Fenichel (Office of Science and Technology Policy) will share the Biden-Harris Administration’s high-level vision for natural capital accounting and associated environmental-economic accounts; Carter Ingram (The Pollination Group) will discuss opportunities for the private sector to utilize and support SEEA aligned natural capital accounts; and Kirsten Oleson (University of Hawaii) will introduce Hawaiʻi’s water and coastal accounts and the potential pathways to using them in economic policy, sustainability dashboards, and conservation planning.
This report, authored by NESP, USDA, and ACES, details available spatial datasets that can be used to track status and trends of the benefits provided by natural and working lands of the United States. The report documents findings from a workshop where experts from across the country came together to discuss this topic. This document provides information that could feed into multiple ongoing national initiatives including both natural capital accounting efforts as well as the forthcoming conservation and stewardship atlas associated with America the Beautiful and 30x30.
Announcement: President Biden Signs Executive Order to Strengthen America’s Forests, Boost Wildfire Resilience, and Combat Global Deforestation.
On Earth Day the White House announced that President Biden signed an executive order that, among other things, “enlists nature in the fight against climate change.” The EO calls for reporting on nature-based solutions, creating OMB guidance on valuing nature, and establishing the first U.S. national assessment of the benefits that the nation’s land, waters, and wildlife provide.
NESP March Webinar Recording: Piloting Natural Capital Accounts for the United States
Natural capital accounting provides a way to integrate the value of ecosystem services into national economic reporting systems and is increasingly being adopted around the world. Hear from Ken Bagstad (USGS), Scott Wentland (BEA), Mehdi Heris (Hunter College), and Katie Warnell (Duke University) about pilot natural capital accounts for land, water, ecosystems, and urban ecosystem services developed for the United States, which were described in a recent special issue of Ecosystem Services. This was part one of two NESP webinars on natural capital accounting.
