Overview of NCI's Work
Irish business and biodiversity
Natural Capital Ireland, with Optimize, AECOM, and former EPA Director Micheál Ó Cinnéide, delivered on a study commissioned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service into how Irish businesses can better support national biodiversity objectives.
The project team conducted a survey of 122 Irish businesses to gauge their knowledge of and action on biodiversity. The project also assessed the appetite for developing a national Business and Biodiversity Platform to support businesses in protecting and restoring biodiversity, which is now active as Business For Biodiversity Ireland - an online hub also facilitated by NCI and backed by Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine and the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage.
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Key findings of the report:
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Irish businesses are taking some action on biodiversity - such as engaging staff, growing pollinator friendly plants and installing beehives
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Conversely, businesses do not tend to account for their strategic environmental impacts:
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Only 22% have completed a review of their direct environmental footprint and 13% have completed a review of environmental impacts in their supply chain
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Just 20% say that their policy to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals is complete.
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Businesses could be missing out on opportunities to gain competitive advantage and win market share, with less than half (43%) viewing action on biodiversity as a business opportunity.
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There was broad support for the establishment of a national Business and Biodiversity Platform, as a forum for peer-to-peer learning on biodiversity, with networking and advice from the Government.
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Teaching Natural Capital & Ecosystem Services Approaches in Higher Education in Ireland
How is natural capital being taught in higher education?
In 2021, Natural Capital Ireland ran a survey to gather data from educators on how third-level institutions in Ireland are integrating natural capital and ecosystem services concepts and approaches into curricula.
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We asked people to fill out the survey even if they do not currently incorporate natural capital concepts in their courses - we would like to better understand the uptake (or lack thereof) of natural capital topics across key disciplines, as well as gain insight into the awareness of and the challenges of teaching these approaches.
Our findings will be used to advance the understanding and application of natural capital concepts in Ireland with more wide-ranging surveys to be conducted as the approach becomes more commonplace.
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Research Papers on Natural Capital for the National Economic & Social Council (NESC)
New and emerging natural capital projects:
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Natural Capital Ireland are delighted to see a number of projects taking off in Ireland and abroad that embark on the natural capital approach.
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Bord na Mona have carried out natural capital accounting on bog areas with Dr Catherine Farrell as they transitioned into their work for nature.
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Grainne Devine of NCI has overseen the development of marine natural capital accounts alongside IDEEA Group at Clew Bay, Co Mayo for Bord Iascaigh Mhara.
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Natural Capital Ireland members sit on the board of Waterways Ireland which is conducting natural capital surveys of the areas surrounding our waterways.
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Our co-founder Prof Jane Stout of Trinity College Dublin is involved in a number of projects at farm & forest scale, including:
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TCD's Nature+ and
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ForES project with Coillte and Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine using Bayesian Belief Network modelling and natural capital accounting to create a web tool for sustainable forestry decisions,
& Forest E3 which is exploring a biodiversity scorecard for woodlands.
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​The Central Statistics Office has been working on an Ecosystem Accounting Division since 2020.
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