Climate Earth Launches Online Natural Capital Management System

Climate Earth NCMS

by | Oct 17, 2013

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Climate Earth NCMSClimate Earth has launched what it says is the first online natural capital management system (NCMS), an enterprise tool to help companies manage the risks and opportunities associated with natural capital dependencies — such as forestland use, water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions — across the value chain.

Natural capital comprises the earth’s natural assets (soil, air, water, flora and fauna) and the ecosystem services resulting from them.

Natural capital accounting is the process of placing a dollar value on a company’s natural capital impacts in a way that is consistent and scientifically valid. A natural capital management system assigns value to these externalized environmental costs and integrates it within a company’s financial system, making the data available in an organizational and operational context.

The world economy depends on healthy and functioning ecosystem services. But according to the sustainability management firm, these ecosystem services typically lack a market value and thus, are often priced at zero, leading to degradation and mismanagement. If these ecosystem services become too degraded, a productive economy — along with the businesses that support it — is no longer viable.

Because of this, companies should approach natural capital as a strategic business asset that must be managed, just like other assets, Climate Earth says.

Climate Earth says it developed NCMS to take companies beyond just measurement to management of risks from consumption of natural capital assets. With NCMS, senior executives and business unit managers can gain insight to questions such as, what are my department’s natural capital dependencies? Are impacts from water consumption or land use more critical? In what country and tier of the supply chain are these risks the highest?

Shared cloud-based access to data drives collaboration across the enterprise and empowers businesses to make informed economic decisions and effectively manage natural capital resources, the company says.

 

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