Description
Natural capital includes the elements of nature that produce value to people, directly and indirectly, including living aspects of nature as well as non-living, such as minerals and resources. The pursuit of the low carbon agenda holds unusually profound implications for the provision of these ecosystem services going far beyond the protection of the climate. So far, the scientific community and the policy world have given little attention to the low carbon/natural capital nexus. Unless evidence regarding this nexus is generated, unnecessary degradations in wider ecosystem service provision may result and opportunities to exploit synergies may be missed. To address this, NERC is commissioning a £1·9m, five-year research programme - Valuing Natural Capital in Low Carbon Energy Pathways - with a consortium project planned to run between 2014-19. It will form part of the NERC contribution to the wider RCUK Energy Programme and falls under NERC's 'Benefiting from natural resources' strategic theme. The programme will generate scientific evidence in the environmental domain to inform the development and management of low carbon pathways.