Type: Book

Protecting natural capital and biodiversity in the agri-food sector

Editor

Dr Jill Atkins is Professor in Financial Management at the University of Sheffield (UK). She is also Visiting Professor at the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa) and the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy). Professor Atkins is internationally renowned for her research and has published widely in the areas of corporate governance, social accounting and responsible investment, and is the author of a standard textbook Corporate Governance and Accountability (now in its fifth edition). Her work in the area of biodiversity and conservation includes the recent books, The Business of Bees, Around the World in 80 Species and the forthcoming book, Extinction Governance, Finance and Accounting: Implementing a Species Protection Action Plan for the Financial Markets.

Dimensions:

229x152mm
6x9"

Publication date:

Q4 2023

Length of book:

400 pages

ISBN-13: 9781801463515

Hardback - £150.00
£150.00
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Description

Natural capital accounting provides techniques to value natural resources and the ecosystem services they deliver. These techniques are being increasingly used by governments, banks and other financial institutions to set conservation priorities, make ecologically-based investment decisions, and to improve the impact of agri-food businesses on the natural world.

Protecting natural capital and biodiversity in the agri-food sector provides a comprehensive overview of how key actors in the agri-food supply chain account for their impacts on natural capital. The book explores recent advances in the accounting and reporting frameworks to measure these impacts, as well as how natural capital and biodiversity can be identified and protected in a variety of agri-food sectors such as dairy production, palm oil production and winemaking.

The book showcases how the agri-food sector can better value and protect ecosystem services and reverse the depletion of natural capital and biodiversity.

Key features

  • Provides a detailed overview of how natural capital and biodiversity can be protected in particular sectors, focussing on the dairy industry, palm oil production, winemaking and avocado cultivation
  • Considers the impact of agriculture on pollinators and the services they deliver, as well as how insect biodiversity can be conserved in an array of agricultural landscapes
  • Includes informative case studies of natural capital and biodiversity accounting in several regions, including Sweden, South Africa and Brazil

Table of contents

Part 1 General
1.Advances in natural capital accounting: Jӧel Houdet, University of Pretoria, South Africa;
2.Advances in biodiversity and extinction accounting: Jill Atkins, Cardiff University, UK;
3.How investment institutions are engaging with industry in protecting natural capital and biodiversity: Martina Macpherson, Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Strategy, Oddo Investment Managers BHF, UK;
4.Exploring corporate weather accounting by the UK food retail industry: Jill Atkins, Cardiff University, UK;

Part 2 Identifying and protecting natural capital and biodiversity in particular sectors
5.Natural capital and biodiversity accounting in the dairy industry: Hannu Schadewitz, University of Turku, Finland;
6.Natural capital and biodiversity accounting in palm oil production: Gunnar Rimmel, Henley Business School, UK;
7.Natural accounting and biodiversity in winemaking: Federica Doni, University of Milan, Italy;
8.Avocado cultivation and biodiversity challenges: Jill Atkins, Cardiff University, UK;
9.Natural capital accounting in the fast food sector: Jill Atkins, Cardiff University, UK;
10.Assessing the impact of pesticide production and use on natural capital and biodiversity: Mira Lieberman-Boyd, University of Sheffield, UK;
11.Assessing the impact of genetically-modified soya on natural capital and biodiversity: Sanjay Lanka, formerly University of Sheffield, UK;
12.Using data to assess the impact of agriculture on pollinators and pollinator services: Walter Haefeker, former President – European Beekeepers’ Association, Germany;
13.Developing and implementing plans to conserve insect biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: Scott Longing, Texas Tech University, USA;

Part 3 Regional case studies
14.Natural capital and biodiversity accounting in the Swedish agri-food sector: Kristina Jonäll, University of Gothenburg, Sweden;
15.Natural capital and biodiversity accounting in the South African agri-food sector: Warren Maroun, University of The Witswatersrand, South Africa;
16.Natural capital and biodiversity accounting in the Brazilian agri-food sector: Sanjay Lanka, formerly University of Sheffield, UK;