Programme launched for the 2017 World Forum on Natural Capital

The programme for the third World Forum on Natural Capital, taking place in Edinburgh in a few weeks’ time, has been launched today. The speakers once again include high-level representatives from a broad spectrum of government, business and civil society and will bring together hundreds of decision-makers from across the globe.

This year marks the third time, since 2013’s inaugural World Forum, that Edinburgh will host the bi-annual event. The last one, held in 2015, welcomed 600 business leaders, government representatives and environmental experts from 45 countries.

The 40+ speakers confirmed so far for the 2017 World Forum include former Vice-minister of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Zhang XinSheng, who is now President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a member of the China Government Council for International Cooperation on Environment; Mary Kitutu, Minister of State for Environment in the Ugandan Government; Philippe Joubert, Founder of Earth on Board and Chair of the Prince of Wales Corporate Leader’s Group on Climate Change; Pushpam Kumar, Chief Economist at UN Environment; Peter Bakker, President & CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development; Gretchen Daily, Bing Professor of Environmental Services at Stanford University; and Richard Mattison, Chief Executive of Trucost, now a part of S&P Dow Jones Indices, which was established to provide the data, tools and insights needed by companies, investors and policymakers to deliver the transition to a low carbon, resource efficient economy.

The 2017 World Forum will take place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 27-28 November and focus on mainstreaming natural capital considerations into decision-making. The theme for the event is Better Decisions for a Better World. The event is once again being organised in association with UN Environment; World Business Council for Sustainable Development; International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the Natural Capital Coalition, with the addition this year of the Green Economy Coalition. The event is organised by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

A growing body of evidence, including analysis of S&P 500 companies, suggests that companies which build natural capital and sustainability into their strategies are outperforming their competitors. With growing environmental pressures and global political change, the topic has never been more important.

Jonny Hughes, Programme Director for the World Forum said: “Once again, we’re delighted to welcome a diverse range of leading international figures to address the forum. With the focus firmly on the challenges of managing the world’s natural assets sustainably in the 21st century, the dialogue between government, the private sector and civil society is vital.

“We hope to inspire dynamic and productive discussions between speakers and delegates at this year’s event, where we will be exploring how applying the principles of natural capital can improve decision-making within business, government and finance, both in terms of the benefits to the bottom line and the achievement of wider social, economic and environmental goals.”