PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The world’s first comprehensive tool linking environmental change with its consequences for the economy has been launched by the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA). The web-based tool, called ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure), will help global banks, investors and insurance firms assess the risks that environmental degradation, such as the pollution of oceans or destruction of forests, causes for financial institutions.
ENCORE’s comprehensive database covers 167 economic sectors and 21 ‘ecosystem services’, i.e. the benefits that nature provides that enable or facilitate business production. Examples of high economic dependencies include the harvesting of cereals and its reliance on pollination, or metal processing and its reliance on ground water provision.
ENCORE data has identified that the three sectors most materially dependent on nature are: Agriculture, Aquaculture & fisheries and Forest products.
The three most important ‘ecosystem services’ for the global economy were found to be: Water provision, Climate regulation and Flood protection.
The ENCORE tool is managed by the NCFA, a collaboration between the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and Global Canopy, in partnership with UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre. It launches at today’s UNEP FI Global Roundtable in Paris. YES Bank, First Rand and VicSuper are among the financial institutions supporting the tool at the launch. Other NCFA signatories or institutions involved in the creation of ENCORE include IFC, UBS, National Australia Bank, Citi, UniCredit and CDC Biodiversite.
The ENCORE project has been made possible with funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the MAVA Foundation.
A fuller version of this press release including full notes to editors and quotes can be found at: http://www.naturalcapitalfinancealliance.org/