Fundamentals of biodiversity and natural capital

Biodiversity is moving up the agenda of investors and boardrooms and is being recognised as a risk that is comparable to climate change. The focus of this course is a comprehensive and holistic coverage of biodiversity and natural capital and the associated risks and opportunities that these present. Delegates will be given a detailed summary and insight of the current biodiversity and natural capital dictionary and narrative and why this is important in our understanding of biodiversity risks.

Both the science and economics of biodiversity will be covered in depth to help delegates understand the linkages and interdependencies between biodiversity and the business world. The course concludes with an assessment of how biodiversity loss and degradation can impact various sectors and industries.

COURSE AGENDA

The dictionary of biodiversity and natural capital

• Biodiversity – meaning and relevance
• Natural capital – meaning and its relations to other forms of capital
• Ecosystem services – meaning and its links with business
• The relationship between biodiversity, natural capital and ecosystem services

The economics of biodiversity

• Bringing ecology and economics together
• The goods and services that nature supplies
• Changing our measures of economic progress
• Measuring biodiversity

The interdependencies between biodiversity, natural capital and the business world

• The implications of biodiversity loss and decline for business and society
• Ecosystem services are the basis of all economic activity
• Nature’s existence value and intrinsic worth
• Assessing nature related financial risks

Integrating biodiversity into a natural capital assessment

• Ecosystems cannot adapt as fast as the climate is changing
• Tipping points, domino effects and collapsing ecosystems
• Degradation of nature from land use change to species exploitation
• Our global ecological footprint