The growing demands on nature are leading to degradation of natural resources and the environment, threatening sustainability and accelerating climate change. However, current metrics for assessing economic progress do not reflect these losses.
Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) Plus was designed to address these gaps and to strengthen wealth and Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) activities initiated under the previous WAVES programme. It aimed to promote sustainable development by incorporating the physical and monetary values of natural capital in decision-making processes.
This closeout report presents the main findings and lessons from this experience. It shows WAVES Plus has achieved its main targets: the performance indicators for all three components were fully achieved, and case studies show the positive contributions made in demonstrating the proof-of-concept for NCA and valuation of natural capital and ecosystem services.