Events and Blogs

Background The Scottish Forum on Natural Capital was formed in late 2013, as an outcome from the first of three World Forum on Natural Capital conferences held in Edinburgh. At its inception, a key part of the Scottish Forum vision was to increase awareness across society about natural capital. This increased awareness was not considered an end in itself, rather that it…

Convened by NatureScot, and the Scottish Forum on Natural Capital, the Natural Capital Roundtables bring together senior representatives from across the public sector in Scotland, with the aim to explore natural capital approaches, share best practice, and develop joint actions. The most recent Roundtable was held in late 2021 and was chaired by Francesca Osowska, CEO of NatureScot. The theme of this, the fifth roundtable was: A natural capital approach for…

Natural capital and land use / management Natural Capital is a concept that enables us to think of our natural environment as an asset that, alongside its intrinsic value, provides flows of benefits to society and economy. Framing the natural environment in this way can help us understand the need to invest in and manage this asset, within safe environmental limits,…

Introduction CoP 26 was an exciting and busy period for the Scottish Forum, with a series of events in partnership with Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) entitled ‘Finance for Nature in Nature’. The Scottish Forum was a core partner with GEFI alongside the Scottish Government, UN Development Programme, Global Canopy and Nature4Climate. We contributed a number of nature-focused events over two…

Introduction The JAHAMA Highland Estate is a mixed highland estate which serves the Fort William Aluminium Smelter’s huge appetite for water to generate electricity for the arc furnaces there. Water is piped from the Spey Dam and Lochs Laggan and Treig via a 14 mile pipe built in the 1920s and 1940s to drive the generators which produce the electricity.…

About As CoP 26 in Glasgow recently underlined, more than ever before, businesses are required to make transformational changes as a vital component of tackling the twin biodiversity and climate crises. However knowing the right steps to take, or sometimes even where to begin, is not always an easy task for businesses, whether large or small. To help businesses, on whatever stage…

As the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) was being held last week, a timely new report by the Green Finance Institute revealed that a minimum of £44 – £97 billion of investment is required to deliver the UK’s nature-related ambitions over the next 10 years. The investment is needed to secure key nature-related outcomes in the UK – such as biodiversity protection and restoration. The gap in…

The Scottish Forum is to be a partner with Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) who are organising a satellite event at Ross Priory, Loch Lomond during COP 26. The event, entitled ‘Finance for Nature in Nature’, will run from from Monday 1st November to Friday 5th November 2021. The Scottish Forum has been invited to be a core partner in…

Introduction Recent years have seen the UK demonstrate a promising mindset shift when it comes to the environment. This transition in the planning and development sector away from avoidance of negative impacts on the environment towards delivering net benefits is attracting attention globally. Whilst net gains for biodiversity are essential for sustainable development, and to tackle the ecological crisis, it…