Your Natural Capital News for January

New year, new ambition for nature

Dear members,

This year we expect to see nature and biodiversity loss become a mainstream issue alongside climate change, both in the media and for business, policy makers and the public. There will be an increasing focus on the importance of the natural capital approach and nature-based solutions in the fight for a sustainable future. 2022 will hopefully be the start of the transformative change needed to reach climate and biodiversity targets with efforts across all sectors of society.

NCI will be launching our Business For Biodiversity hub among other big projects for nature in the coming months and we will keep you up to date with developments and let you know how to play a part soon. This month sees World Wetlands Day with events in Ireland & worldwide, plus some of our Steering Committee members will be taking part in the SER series of webinars on Ecological Restoration, representing the state of play in Ireland, details below.

Wishing you a healthy and happy 2022,

Natural Capital Ireland

info@naturalcapitalireland.com

NCI WORK

Our submission to Land Use Review: In response to the recent EPA call for expert evidence for the National Land Use review, Natural Capital Ireland submitted a number of reports and publications relevant to the review. Read all about it on our blog HERE. NB: The deadline for submissions to the Land Use Review has been extended to February 4th, 2022.

What have limpets ever done for us?
Great guest blog on this clingy creature by Louise B. Firth of the School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, delving into the provisioning and cultural services of the limpet. Download the comic strip for a fascinating outline of the cultural, medicinal and culinary legacy - as well as how it catches small mammals. READ.

INCASE NEWS

Shifting the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from aspiration to reality
The core INCASE team has gone their separate ways, but the project to apply natural capital accounting in Irish catchments continues as we enter a dissemination phase, with a series of key papers & publications making their way out into the world. Our final report is to be finalised towards the end of the year, in the meantime, read the open access paper in Restoration Ecology on Natural capital approaches: shifting the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from aspiration to reality, on how the approach can give common language to facilitate cooperation between academics and decision-makers, across rural communities and business sectors. A couple of the co-authors, Dr Catherine Farrell & Paddy Woodworth will be presenting Ireland's case at the SER Europe webinar series on February 15th.

NATCAP NEWS

Transparent call for methods: Corporate Natural Capital Accounting
The Transparent project is working to deliver practical approaches for corporate natural capital accounts to allow the value of nature and people to be integrated into decision making. The project is calling for submissions from those who have developed a tool, methodology or resource that can help measure, account for and/or value natural capital impacts and dependencies in business. The need for businesses and organisations to understand these impacts and dependencies is essential not only to address the twin biodiversity and climate change emergencies but also for the long-term sustainability of business’s needs. Read more here via Capitals Coalition.

What's on for World Wetlands Day, February 2nd?
World Wetlands Day is an opportunity to coordinate global, national and local efforts to raise awareness about wetlands. Nearly 90% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s, and we are losing wetlands three times faster than forests. Wetlands are critically important ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation, freshwater availability, world economies and more. The day aims to raise national and global awareness about wetlands in order to encourage actions to conserve and restore them. The Irish Ramsar Wetlands Committee has a list of Wetlands events H ERE.

EVENTS

World Wetlands Day
Date: February 2nd

Wetlands Day Ireland events
Date: February 2nd
Host: Irish Ramsar Wetlands Committee

World Wetlands Day Celebration and Coastwatch Seagrass Workshop
Date: February 2nd
Host: Coastwatch

Public Participation in Catchment Management
Date: February 3rd
Host: An Foram Uisce/The Water Forum

Public Consultation on Carbon Budgets
Deadline: February 8
Host: Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

Public Consultation on the EU Just Transition Fund
Deadline: February 14th
Host: Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

International Ocean Data Conference 2022
Date: February 14-16th
Location: Poland/Online
Host: Unesco

State of Ecological Restoration in Ireland
#SEREwebinars2022 ft NCI's Dr Catherine Farrell & Paddy Woodworth
Date: February 15th
Host: Society for Ecological Restoration

Offshore Renewable Energy: Maritime Area Consent (MAC) Assessment for Phase One Projects
Deadline: February 16th
Host: Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

The Natural Capital Laboratory: A rewilding experiment
Date: February 24th
Host: Ecosystems Knowledge Network

Offshore Wind - Phase 2 Consultation
Deadline: March 2nd
Host: Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

CIEEM 2022 Spring Conference: Taking Biodiversity Net Gain from Theory to Practice
Date: March 22nd
Host: CIEEM.net

Public Consultation on the draft River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2022-2027
Deadline: March 31st, 2022
Hosts: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage , see
LAWPRO virtual consultation room

For more and to submit an event, visit our NCI Event database H ERE.

RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS

Why protecting the planet is essential to preventing future pandemics

Opinion piece on why leaders can no longer afford to ignore our escalating nature crisis by Marco Lambertini, Gim Huay Neo and Elizabeth Mrema for CNN Business Perspectives

ESRI Report: Public understanding of climate change and support for mitigation
Experiment shows the importance of educating the public for increasing willingness to support and undertake actions to combat climate change.

Get Nature Positive - new UK campaign with a Nature Handbook for Business
The Council for Sustainable Business, a group of business leaders appointed by the UK Department of Environment DEFRA, has produced an excellent online hub & handbook of nature action.

Series of Public Meetings on the River Basin Management Plan Consultation
The Local Authority Waters Programme will be holding meetings in many counties throught February & March. It has distilled information in the draft river basin management plan and presented it in an innovative online platform. You can access background information on water quality, both nationally and in your county, and find out what’s in the plan. There is an easy-to-use online submission form to submit your views. Access the meeting map & consultation room here.