Natural capital asset
Definition
The specific components of natural capital, such as water, atmosphere or land, that provide ecosystem services 1. As in economics, an asset describes a store of value representing a benefit or series of benefits accruing to an economic owner by holding or using the entity over a period of time 2.
Classification of natural capital assets
Several classifications exist that group natural capital assets (e.g. SEEA Central Framework 2, Natural Capital Committee 3, Shepherd et al. 4 and OECD Green Growth Indicators 5). Leach et al. consolidated and amended existing classifications to produce a hierarchical natural capital asset classification that standardises the identification and description of all natural capital assets (see Leach et al. 2019 for further details 6).