14 June 2012: The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has released “Opportunities for UK Business That Value and/or Protect Nature’s Services,” the final report of the “Review of UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) Evidence to Assess Scope for Business Related Ecosystem Market Opportunities in the UK and Tools for Business Sector Uptake.”

Commissioned for the Ecosystem Markets Task Force (EMTF) by the Valuing Nature Network (VNN), the report identifies reasons for which business should value and protect nature’s services. Reasons include the business risks caused by degradation and scarcity, consumer expectations, and the competitive advantage of developing sustainable supply chains, procurement and production.

The Report ranks 12 opportunities demonstrating market potential: biodiversity offsets, including conservation banking; a peatland carbon code; woodland enhancement through markets for wood fuel; developing an ecosystems knowledge economy; layered payment for ecosystem services (PES); carbon sequestration; expanding the value of sustainability certification; optimizing the benefits of sustainable tourism; establishing a global centre of excellence for ecosystem services certification; water re-use technology; investment in green infrastructure to reduce risk for insurers; and developing environmental bonds for investment in nature. [DEFRA Press Release] [Publication: Opportunities for UK Business That Value and/or Protect Nature’s Services: Final Report] [Publication: Final Report – Attachment 1: Elaboration of Proposals for Potential Business Opportunities] [Publication: Final Report – Non-Technical Summary]