The Natural Capital Declaration has entered a new phase of action. This phase will involve over 41 financial institutions who have signed the declararion implementing the commitments laid out in the Natural Capital Declaration. The core objectives of Phase II of the NCD are to, stimulate financial institutions that have signed up to the NCD to show progress towards implementing the NCD commitments, develop practical tools and metrics to integrate natural capital in all asset classes and relevant financial products and increase the number of signatories so as to build a greater level of acknowledgement within the financial sector about the materiality of natural capital.
Andrew Mitchell, Executive Director of GCP, said: “Since its launch in Rio a year ago, the NCD has gathered considerable momentum. As more organisations join this ground breaking financial sector initiative, we step closer to getting natural capital included as part of everyday business. The second phase of the NCD is a journey that forward-thinking financial sector leaders now seem ready to take.”
Ivo Mulder, Programme Officer for UNEP FI, said: “Natural capital used to be an esoteric subject for most financial institutions. The increase in extreme weather, volatility of commodity prices and water challenges, however, have led more banks, investors and insurance firms to start thinking about how these phenomena affect their clients and thereby their own balance sheet.”