Natural Capital
Unlocking the value of the natural world
Natural capital refers to natural assets and ecosystems that generate benefits for people, like clean air and water, food, flood protection, and climate regulation. At Stantec, we work with clients to demonstrate the value of natural capital to all interested parties. Our goal? To help make the business case for nature. This includes realizing cost savings, improving decision-making, reducing risk, communicating tradeoffs, enhancing reputation, demonstrating sustainability, preserving the social license to operate, and increasing value.
Our natural capital services are integrated into many areas (like water, buildings, transportation, energy, and industrial), providing customized service to our corporate and government clients. We offer a range of services from benefit-cost and return-on-investment analysis of green infrastructure to triple-bottom-line (TBL) assessment, ecosystem service valuation, natural resource quantification, economic impact analysis, and de-risking infrastructure.
Maximizing the value of your natural assets
We integrate natural capital into project decision-making to identify economies of scale that increase sustainability, enhance and restore valuable ecosystem services, and reduce environmental risk. These efforts also protect biodiversity, increase carbon sequestration, and minimize unnecessary environmental impacts, contributing to quality of life. Click below to learn about our natural capital practice. Learn MoreEcosystem service valuation
Ecosystem services are the benefits that flow from natural capital—meaning the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems and natural assets to human well-being and economic activity. We employ a range of rigorous and defensible approaches to estimate the economic value of these services. Understanding these values in monetary terms facilitates decision-making by allowing us to compare the benefits of actions that improve and enhance ecosystem services and their associated costs.Economic impact analysis
In addition to their direct effects, management and conservation activities have wider effects on local and regional economies. Economic impact analysis involves measuring these effects using metrics such as economic output, employment, labor income, and value added. We estimate the direct, indirect, and induced impacts that result from activities that enhance natural capital and ecosystem services. Examples of these impacts include property values, tax revenues, and increased economic activity by tourists and locals.Triple-bottom-line valuation
While the financial bottom line is commonly used for evaluating corporate health and performance, a more expansive framework, the TBL, takes a wider and more holistic view. TBL measures performance and progress on social and environmental objectives as well as the financial objective measured by a traditional bottom line. Stantec conducts TBL evaluations to look beyond financial impacts to realize the value created by the fulfillment of social and environmental goals and objectives.
Paola Bernazzani, Principal Consultant
Guiding corporations toward sustainability is a powerful way to move the needle on safeguarding biodiversity and the climate.
Susan Burke, Principal
Wise economic stewardship involves working within a team to allocate scarce resources that improve outcomes for society and the environment.
Ashlyn Anderson, Senior Project Consultant
Curiosity and relationship building are key to finding custom environmental, social, and governance (ESG) solutions.
Jon Hecht, Principal Economist
As an economist, I conduct analyses that support sustainable growth and generate long-term value for society and the environment.
Angelique Giraud, Senior Economist
I help organizations further their sustainability mission by overcoming barriers imposed by financial constraints.
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