Symposium on Natural Capital: The Business Case and Relevance to Financial Institutions, Sofitel Hotel, BKC, Mumbai, 14 November 2014. Jointly organised by GIZ working on behalf of the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and YES Bank.

1. The Sofitel, Mumbai, 14 November 2014
… or How Accountants Can
Save the Planet
Prof Jeremy B Williams
Director, Asia Pacific Centre
for Sustainable Enterprise
@TheGreenMBA
Symposium on Natural Capital:
The business case and
relevance to financial
institutions

2. slideshare.net/jembwilliams
@TheGreenMBA
#NatCap

4. Politics or ideology must
not get in the way of
sound planning

6. Risk data for 198 countries across 26 separate issues, including climate change
vulnerability and food security, as well as emissions, ecosystem services, natural disasters
and regulation
Echoes the findings of recent reports released by the Pentagon
The growth economies of Cambodia (12), India (13), Myanmar (19), Pakistan (24) and
Mozambique (27) also feature in the ‘extreme risk’ category.

27. Good or bad for
GDP?

28. The welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from
a measurement of national income as defined by the
GDP... goals for ‘more’ growth should specify of
what and for what.’

30. Kubiszewski et al (2013: 63)

31. ‘Capitalism, as practiced, is a
financially profitable, non-sustainable
aberration in human
development. What might be
called ‘industrial capitalism’
does not fully conform to its
own accounting principles. It
liquidates its capital and calls it
income. It neglects to assign any
value to the largest stocks of
capital it employs – the natural
resources and living systems, as
well as the social and cultural
systems that are the basis of
human capital.’
Hawken, Lovins and Lovins (1999), Natural Capitalism, p. 5.

32. (2005)

33. The six capitals
of Integrated
Reporting
<IR>

35. Introducing TEEB
G8 Environment Ministers Meeting
Potsdam, March 2007

36. Pavan Sukhdev
Lead the TEEB study
and CEO-Founder of

37. Ending the economic invisibility of nature

39. (2012)

40. < 1/3 of responding
ACCA members were
familiar with the term
‘ecosystem services’
70% of ACCA members
surveyed said they
needed training on its
potential impact on
corporate value and
performance

42. Pollination
services from bees
in Britain would
cost the UK £1.8
billion p/a

43. ‘Eco-system
engineers’

48. (Released 14 May 2014) Executive Summary:
‘Natural capital will become as
prominent a business concern in
the 21st Century as the provision
of adequate financial capital was
in the 20th Century ... We are
already ‘drawing down’ on 50%
more natural capital a year than
the earth can replenish – and the
rate of depletion is accelerating.
All too soon, businesses will face a
stark choice: adapt or fail.’

49. HRH Prince Charles

51. “Natural capital drives
a completely different
business model that
redefines business
success”
Valuing Our Life Support Systems
Summit - Natural Capital Initiative
6-7 November 2014
British Library, London
Richard Spencer
Head of Sustainability
ICAEW

52. Links between natural capital and
corporate value

55. Which of nature’s assets should your company be investing in?

56. September 2013
Follow up on Is Natural Capital a
Material Issue?
• narrative reporting on strategy
and management providing
qualitative understanding of
an organisation’s relationship
to natural capital and the
processes used to manage the
various risks and
opportunities; and
• performance reporting
providing stakeholders with
quantitative information on
KPIs that can be used to track
performance over time

58. Puma the world’s first major
corporation to publish details
of the cost of its impact on
the environment
Motivation: to build a more
“resilient and sustainable
business model”

60. The USD1 trillion infrastructure gap
• Current spending on basic infrastructure is
$2.7 trillion – needs to be $3.7 trillion
• $50 trillion in locked in pension funds,
making low risk investments
• Companies need to demonstrate how they
will create and preserve value over time

62. November 2013

64. Year: 1986
Population: 2.7 million
Green Cover: 35.7%
Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP)

65. Year: 2007
Population: 4.8 million
Green Cover: 46.5%
Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP)

66. Cheonggyecheon, Seoul (BEFORE)

67. CheonggyecheonCheonggyecheon, Seoul (AFTER)

68. World’s Most
Liveable City
for four years
running
The goal:
City
in a
Forest

69. Urban Landscapes Climate Adaptation
$50 million 2010-2015
Cool the
city by
4°C
Double canopy
cover
Increase
permeability
Increase green
space
Increase
stormwater
harvesting
Human Health Public Realm & Environment

70. profjeremybwilliams