November 2016: The Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) Global Partnership commenced a second phase of operations to span from 2016 through to 2020, with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) becoming the first donor to contribute to the WAVES+ Multi Donor Trust Fund.

DFID signed an agreement with the World Bank, which leads the WAVES Partnership, committing £4 million to the Trust Fund. In its next phase, the Partnership will work in more countries and advance the development of policy applications for natural capital accounting (NCA).

WAVES was launched in 2010 and, since then, Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Madagascar, Rwanda and the Philippines have established NCA programmes for natural resources, such as forests, water and minerals, with technical support from WAVES. Countries are also working on water regulation, soil retention and carbon sequestration.

Some WAVES countries have: programmes that generate information on the contribution of natural capital to their economy; dedicated units to implement NCA; and NCA in their national development plans or national climate change strategies. WAVES is also working with partners to help develop methodology for ecosystem accounting.

WAVES aims to promote sustainable development by incorporating the physical and monetary values of natural capital into decision-making processes. It also supports South-South learning and the integration of natural capital concepts into World Bank operations. [WAVES Partnership Press Release] [WAVES Partnership Website]