Natural Capital Accounting

The integration of EO data with biodiversity metrics and economic valuation represents a promising pathway towards more environmentally inclusive national accounting systems. This approach seeks to establish a scientifically grounded framework that links land use changes, biodiversity impacts, and their implications for the Green National Net Income (GNNI). More specifically, the pilot creates a flexible framework to determine land use (LU) and land use intensity (LUI) from EO data. The pilot then couples the LU and LUI information with statistical models which predict the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII).

This pilot aligns with leading global frameworks that guide how countries integrate environmental information into economic decision-making. At its core, the pilot supports the UN System of Environmental–Economic Accounting (SEEA)—the international standard for linking ecosystem data with national accounts. The pilot’s EO‑derived land use, biodiversity condition (BII), and valuation outputs mirror SEEA Ecosystem Accounting principles and can directly inform future green national accounting.

The pilot also responds to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly its call for countries to embed biodiversity values into national planning and accounting. By generating spatially explicit biodiversity indicators from EO data, the pilot offers practical tools for meeting these reporting commitments.

In addition, the work complements the Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) framework and the Natural Capital Protocol (NCP), both of which promote transparent, spatially grounded assessments of ecosystem impacts. The pilot’s open-source workflow supports these principles and the systematic environmental economic valuation of biodiversity.

The pilot’s methods are further aligned with the Taskforce on Nature‑related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which encourages use of spatially explicit nature indicators to assess risks and dependencies. EO-derived land use and BII metrics can inform both public and private-sector nature‑related risk assessments. The pilot is applied to case countries Denmark and the Netherlands.

Finally, the pilot builds on scientific standards from IPBES, GEO BON, and the Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) framework, which emphasize combining EO and in situ data to monitor biodiversity change. The use of PREDICTS data and BII modelling is consistent with these global best practices.

Together, these frameworks ensure that the pilot’s approach is scientifically robust, policy-relevant, and fully compatible with emerging international standards for nature‑inclusive national accounting.

Users of the pilot framework will require easy access to EO‑based land‑use and land‑use‑intensity data, along with open, well‑documented code that can be reproduced and integrated into national statistics. Clear metadata and compatibility with standards such as SEEA are essential to ensure that results can feed into national accounting efforts such as Green National Net Income. Users will also need transparent biodiversity models that link land‑use patterns to the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), including spatially explicit outputs and uncertainty estimates. These models must be flexible enough to incorporate new biodiversity data as it becomes available. On the economic side, users require valuation methods that consistently translate changes in biodiversity intactness into socio-economic effects. These methods must align with environmental economic standards and allow updates as new valuation evidence emerges. To support policy applications, the framework must provide clear, interpretable indicators and maps, that show how land‑use change affects biodiversity and economic welfare. Scenario comparison tools will help users assess different policy or land‑use pathways in order to improve decision-making. Finally, usability is crucial: the framework should be modular, easy to modify, and supported by clear documentation, enabling both specialists and non‑specialists to adopt and extend the system over time.

Stakeholder engagement is a central component of the framework, ensuring that the outputs are relevant and actionable. Policymakers can use the developed framework and models to inform land use planning and biodiversity conservation strategies, while financial institutions may incorporate biodiversity metrics into nature-related financial disclosures and investment products. Local communities and non-Government organisations (NGOs) benefit from spatial data that supports conservation and sustainable land management, and researchers gain access to open-source tools and datasets for further innovation. Through LEON, the pilot fosters collaboration and ensures that the EO-based framework contributes meaningfully to nature-positive decision-making and financial systems.