Natural Capital Ireland held its Annual General Meeting online on March 24th, 2021 - we welcomed our members to hear an update on our progress in 2020 and our plans for the organisation going forward, as well as to exchange feedback and ideas. Here are some of the highlights covered at the AGM...
NCI’s 2020 in review:
We had our biggest year yet - even while working remotely, we:
Continued to support the EPA-funded INCASE project
Facilitated a series of workshops with members of the National Biodiversity Forum, as part of a commentary report on the National Biodiversity Action Plan
Began a survey of natural capital concepts in higher-level education in Ireland, and completed a survey of 122 businesses for the Business and Biodiversity project
Hosted two well-attended stakeholder events
Published our first explainer videos, on natural capital accounting and natural capital on farmland
Saw our membership grow over 50%, to 900+ members (more always welcome!)
Also saw our following on Twitter and LinkedIn grow - be sure to follow along for updates on NCI and the natural capital agenda
Established a Media Response Unit, with timely responses to the EPA State of the Environment Report 2020 and more
Made several policy submissions on consultations, including to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Department of the Taoiseach, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Launched Policy Working Groups, with members welcome to join
Rebranded from Irish Forum on Natural Capital to our new trading name of Natural Capital Ireland
We also focused on governance, with new board members and an optimised terms of reference for the Steering Committee, in addition to maintaining a set of audited accounts.
Our Strategic Plan
We’ve published our plan for the next three years, which is designed to help us deliver on our vision and mission. This plan was driven by our Board of Directors with support from NCI’s Steering Committee. Our mission statement:
Our vision is for an Ireland in which natural capital and ecosystem goods and services are valued, protected and restored. And our mission is to value, protect and restore Ireland’s natural capital and ecosystem services. We will do this by supporting the adoption of natural capital concepts in public policy and corporate strategy, promoting informed public and private sector decision-making, and assisting in the establishment of a national natural capital accounting standard.
Three key strategic themes will help NCI’s Board of Directors, Steering Committee and members deliver on this:
Funding and Governance
Influence, Engagement and Awareness
Research
For 2021, we’re particularly focused on:
Streamlining our fundraising process and reaching new funding targets (at least €100,000, representing a 100% increase year-on-year)
Introducing governance that will support us as we grow
Reaching a wider audience via events and social media, and introducing a data hub as another resource for members and followers. Check out the Data 4 Nature conference on May 11, register here.
Refining our position on key policy areas, and continuing to make relevant submissions
Deliver on the INCASE project and any next steps
The full Strategic Plan is available here. We’ve already engaged some great experts to deliver on this plan - to make it a reality, we need consistent, long-term funding. If you want to support NCI, or have any ideas for the future of the organisation, please reach out to our Executive Coordinator at coordinator@naturalcapitalireland.com.
We would like to say a big thank you to all our members for their interest over the year and in particular to attendees of the AGM for their input. It’s free to become an NCI member - sign up today to attend our 2022 Annual General Meeting.