Using natural capital accounting to measure the strength and endurance of competitiveness

Natural Capital Accounts enable the quantification of the ecological foundations of economic stability, which are normally invisible in conventional economic accounts. The importance of these foundations only becomes apparent when they are no longer present, with significant economic consequences. Thanks to the EU-funded INCA (Integrated system for Natural Capital Accounts) project, it was possible to measure and report on ecosystem services. The JRC LISBETH (LInking Ecosystem Services and Benefits to the Economy Through Bridging) initiative made it possible to test the application of these accounts through economic and financial tools and models. This report brings together the outcomes of INCA and LISBETH with the aim of testing their effectiveness within a policy context. Specifically, it focuses on the EU’s Vision for Agriculture and Food, which explicitly calls for better-rewarded ecosystem services and streamlined payments for nature-based schemes. The combination of spatial and temporal dimensions is used to structure a series of policy-relevant applications. Ecosystem Services accounts: (i) provide a comprehensive economic overview; (ii) offer evidence to mitigate future economic losses; (iii) facilitate analysis that extends beyond national borders, incorporating production and consumption; (iv) facilitate the forecasting of regional and global scenarios.

PARACCHINI Maria Luisa;  LA NOTTE Alessandra;  REGA Carlo;  TROMBETTI Marco;  GRAMMATIKOPOULOU Ioanna;  DOHRING Bjorn;  CEGLAR Andrej;  VAN OOSTSTROOM BRUMMEL Fleur;  PISANI Domenico;  TAMBORRA Maria Luisa; 

2026-08-11

Publications Office of the European Union

JRC147102

978-92-68-42474-2 (online),   

1831-9424 (online),   

EUR 40810,    OP KJ-01-26-338-EN-N (online),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC147102,   

10.2760/4701402 (online),