Natural Capital Committee

The Natural Capital Committee (NCC) is an independent body set up in 2012, initially for a three year period, to report to the UK Government and advise on how to value nature and to ensure England’s ‘natural wealth’ is managed efficiently and sustainably. During its first term it produced three reports to government on the 'State of Natural Capital'. It has called on the Office for National Statistics to integrate the state of the country's natural assets (also known as natural capital) into mainstream national accounting.

Having fulfilled its initial remit, the UK NCC ceased activity in March 2015, but was reformed by the new 2015 conservative government with modified Terms of Reference and a brief to continue for the life of that current parliament (i.e. up to 2020).

The NCC was set up as an independent advisory Committee following a key UK Government Natural Environment White Paper commitment in 2011. It initially had a three year term and formally reported to the Economic Affairs Committee, which is chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In November 2012, the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, described his ambition for the natural environment and how the work of the Committee fits into this. In a speech to the Royal Society he said: “I do not, however, just want to maintain our natural assets; I want to improve them. I want us to derive the greatest possible benefit from them, while ensuring that they are available for generations to come. This is what the NCC’s innovative work is geared towards”.

In 2015 the new UK Government announced that the Natural Capital Committee would be continued at least until the end of the current parliament and that its terms of reference would be reviewed. In December 2015 it reappointed Professor Dieter Helm as its chair, with new members to be appointed early in 2016.

Between 2012 to 2015 the NCC’s role was broadly to advise the UK Government on how to ensure England’s ‘natural wealth’ is managed efficiently and sustainably, thereby unlocking opportunities for sustained prosperity and well-being.

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