OUR HISTORY – TIMELINE
Significant dates in the history of the Scottish Forum initiative
| Our activities | |||
| External milestones | |||
The first World Forum on Natural Capital took place on 21-22 November 2013 in Edinburgh and brought together 500 delegates from over 30 countries to discuss the rapidly evolving issue, with the aim of turning the debate into practical action. The two days included inspiring key-notes by industry leaders, examples of…
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The Founding Partners met on 8th January 2014 to discuss the purpose of the Steering Group. Priorities identified included: Calculate the monetary value of Scotland’s natural capital and the cost of depleting it. This will involve coordinating experts including accountants, people from business, academics and policymakers. Communicate to a broad range…
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The first Steering Group meeting was held on 17th April 2014. The group discussed the desired outcomes from the initiative: UNDERSTANDING Understanding potential negative impact on - Scottish economy of mismanaged natural capital - Scottish natural capital of misused natural capital accounting Understanding business opportunities for own organisation associated with…
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The First Natural Capital and the Circular Economy Roundtable was held on 9th September 2015, chaired by Ramsay Urquhart, Director of Risk & Compliance at Alliance Trust. This became an annual Public Sector Leaders’ Natural Capital Roundtable event, exploring topics such as: Delivering Government Ambition in July 2017 Vacant and Derelict Land…
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The second World Forum on Natural Capital was held on 23-24 November 2015 with the theme - Solutions for a Changing World. Scotland’s former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP opened the event which focused on understanding and managing risk, examining the latest innovation and tools, finance and investment and policy…
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The Future Land Management Business Models Working Group began in 2017, chaired by Roger Owen at SEPA, and evolved into the Sustainable Land Management Group in 2018, chaired by Mary Christie of Scottish Natural Heritage (NatureScot). This group has now developed into the Sustainable Land Management Connectors - find out…
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The 3rd World Forum on Natural Capital was held on 27th November 2017. Over 700 delegates gathered at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) for the event, opened by the former First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, who expressed Scotland’s commitment to continue to protect and enhance its natural capital which…
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In March 2018, Crown Estate Scotland partnered with the Scottish Forum on Natural Capital, SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage, the James Hutton Institute and SRUC to deliver the world’s first trial of the Natural Capital Protocol on land-based businesses. The Trial included 2 tenant farms and the Glenlivet Estate in Moray. The…
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Stirling City Council approached the Scottish Forum on Natural Capital to ask for help in bringing to light the normally hidden financial returns which come from investing in green infrastructure. The report we produced is an analysis of two proposals outlined in the Stirling City Deal Masterplan: a River Project aiming…
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The Riverwoods initiative was set up to create a network of riparian woodland and healthy river systems throughout Scotland, to deliver a range of benefits including flood protection, improved water quality and improvements for salmon fisheries, as well as helping to tackle the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. It’s…
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In February 2020 the Scottish Government’s Environment Strategy recognises for the first time that “Scotland’s natural environment is our life support system. Our health, wellbeing and prosperity all rely on the services it provides.” Read more Environment Strategy outcomes: how will we get there? – The Environment Strategy for Scotland: vision…
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In July 2020, an initiative to bring together a Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures was announced with the preparatory phase of the initiative running from September 2020 until June 2021. The taskforce developed a framework designed to help organisations to report and act on evolving nature-related issues with the ultimate…
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In July 2020 the Scottish Conservation Finance Pioneers group was established, emerging out of the Innovative Finance Working Group, which helped drive the “Route Map to £1 Billion”. The thriving Basecamp network, which started in June 2020, and has grown to over 600 members with active discussions evolving daily. The name…
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In September 2020, 26 financial Institutions from around the globe launched the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge calling on global leaders to commit to protecting and restoring biodiversity through their financial activities and investments in the run-up to the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in May…
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On 27th September 2020 at the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity, political leaders representing 96 countries including the UK, committed to reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. The pledge was endorsed by the First Minister of Scotland and led to the ‘Statement of Intent on Biodiversity’ published in December 2020, which…
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In November 2020 the Natural Capital Finance & Investment Conference produced by the Ecosystem Knowledge Network, WWF and Finance Earth, showcased work in Scotland and the local governments taking the lead in catalysing innovative finance. The Blue Impact Fund was launched. The conference became an annual event that still continues to accelerate action…
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In December 2020 the Ecosystem Services Community Scotland (ESCom) held its first joint event with the Scottish Forum. The event entitled ‘Using Natural Capital Approaches to Support Sustainable Land Management in Scotland: Insights from Recent Pilots’ provided an overview of new natural capital projects, emerging learning and next steps for natural capital approaches.…
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On 1st March 2022, Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) set out the priorities for Scotland’s economy and the actions needed to maximise the opportunities to achieve a wellbeing economy. The ambition for 2032 recognised next 10 years as a time of incredible change and extraordinary opportunity for Scotland,…
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On 31st March 2022 the Scottish Government published their ambitions and expectations for a values-led, high-integrity market for responsible private investment in natural capital, for communities, investors, land owners, public bodies and other market stakeholders. The principles were designed to protect Scotland’s international reputation for its natural capital by recognising…
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In April 2022 the Riverwoods Investment Readiness Pioneers development fund was set up, led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in partnership with the Democratic Society and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. As a project stream of the Riverwoods initiative it aims to provide an opportunity for communities, landowners and other stakeholders to…
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The Marine Natural Capital Forum Scotland held its first meeting in April 2022, with members from NatureScot, SRUC, JNCC, University of Aberdeen, Crown Estate Scotland and the Blue Carbon Forum. The Basecamp Group, Marine Natural Capital Network, was set up to provide a platform for technical and policy experts to share…
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NatureScot recognised that public and philanthropic funding alone would not be sufficient to restore nature in Scotland and that private sector finance would be needed to close the nature restoration funding gap over the next 10 years. In August 2022 the Investment Ready Nature Scotland (IRNS) Grant Scheme was launched…
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The Scottish Government's CivTech Challenge 8 launched its Innovate for Nature strategy in November 2022. The CivTech scheme takes real problems faced by government departments, public sector organisations and charities, and invites anyone with a brilliant idea to collaborate to create the solution. The Challenges posed for CivTech Challenge 8 included:…
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Following in the steps of the Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (IRNS) grant scheme, the The Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) launched in February 2023. The scheme supports the development of natural capital markets by creating a pipeline of investible projects that are ready to meet demand…
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On 30th March 2023 the UK Government published its Green Finance Strategy setting out how the government will encourage green finance for nature-based solutions such as tree planting and peatland restoration and support for farmers to access new private sector revenue streams whilst protecting our natural environment. The plans included…
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