Aim of project
The lack of standardisation across corporate environmental assessment methods, including natural capital accounting standards and practices, continues to hamper the mainstreaming of environmentally sustainable activities and assets across the economy as well as correct corporate identification of and management of environmental risks. The project TRANSPARENT aims to develop the first set of natural capital accounting principles and corporate implementation guidelines tested by industry practitioners. It is supported by the LIFE program grant by the EU Commission and led by the Value Balancing Alliance in consortium with the Capitals Coalition and the World Business Council For Sustainable Development. The consortium supports the implementation of the Green Deal targets by developing pragmatic solutions for corporate natural capital management accounting and decision making. The methodology aims to establish a generally applicable standard that generates widely consistent results across businesses and sectors. It will be piloted by international businesses to ensure that it is effective, robust and fit-for-purpose.
Term
The project kicked off in March 2020 (Press release) and runs until the end of 2022. The primary output includes the world’s first standardised methodology providing practical application guidance for corporate accountants in charge of establishing a natural capital accounting system. The methodology is being developed in an iterative process and close engagement with corporate practitioners, experts, academia and the general public. Each phase of the methodology development is accompanied by stakeholder reviews and followed by public consultations.
Project deliverables
Project deliverables include a benchmarking study (Benchmarking report), methodology (Natural Capital Management Accounting) and application guidelines validated by corporate piloting, a management “blueprint” for decision making, selected industry sector application guidelines, as well as a recommendation on the future structures that would be needed to ensure future updates and uptake in the EU and globally. More information can be found on the project website operated by consortium partner Capitals Coalition here: EU Project.
More information
Related links
Natural Capital Accounting Benchmarking Report
Learn about our Call for Methods
Contact
Clara Ulmer
Project Lead
transparent@value-balancing.com
Partners
- VBA- Value Balancing Alliance
- WBCSD - World Business Council for Sustainable Development
- Capitals Coalition
Funding
- LIFE Programme of the European Union