Capitals Coalition: Focus on the value of people and nature

source:goldencsr date:2022-02-16 16:22:54

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEBAgriFood) initiative brings together scientists, economists, policymakers, business leaders and farmers organizations to undertake and apply assessments of agricultural systems. By engaging with agri-businesses, governments and other stakeholders in 7 partner countries including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand, the project aims to protect biodiversity and contribute to a more sustainable agriculture and food sector.

TEEBAgriFood uses a multi-capital approach (natural capital, human capital, social capital, produced capital) to better facilitate integrated decision-making in the agri-food industry. Through understanding the essential links between capitals, non-financial capital is integrated into corporate strategies in a mainstream way, and a series of opportunities brought about by the transformation of agricultural product systems are accessible.

The project is led by UNEP, with the Capitals Coalition responsible for finding and promoting commercial engagement, and GoldenBee is the Chinese partner of the project.

In May 2020, GoldenBee and Capitals Coalition jointly held a webinar to launch the TEEBAgriFood implementation project in China. At the meeting, experts from the Capital Coalition introduced the multi- capital approach and the implementation of TEEBAgriFood in China. Experts from GoldenBee introduced their efforts to promote corporate attention and conservation of biodiversity in China and the best practices of Chinese enterprises. More than 70 people participated in the webinar.

In March 2021, GoldenBee and Capitals Coalition jointly organized China virtual roundtable to discuss the TEEBAgriFood Operational Guidelines for Business. The Guidelines help to shape practices, guide investments and inform decisions that will transform our global food systems, by providing businesses with the tools they need to identify and measure the value they receive from natural, social and human capital.

Since July 2021, GoldenBee and Capitals Coalition have jointly organized four training sessions to help enterprises in the Chinese agri-food value chain to integrate natural capital, social capital, human capital and produced capital into the decision-making process. A total of more than 90 participants from companies, financial institutions, governments, scientific institutions, civil society, and multi-stakeholder groups participated in the trainings. Through learning the TEEBAgriFood Operational Guidelines for Business step by step, the participants understood the concepts and correlations of different capitals as well as their impacts and dependencies, studied hypothetical examples and conducted case analysis by groups. The multi-capital approach is expected to be applied by companies in China, so that companies can better understand the relationship between businesses and biodiversity, and actively respond to national policies.

The fifth training is planned to be done in April 2022 regarding the pilot application of Chinese companies. GoldenBee and Capitals Coalition are expected to have further cooperation and make joint proposals for the coming COP15 in 2022.