The Scottish Government has published research in to Natural capital and it's importance to the Scottish economy.

WSP and Economics for the Environment Consultancy (eftec) were commissioned  to undertake a study on “The Importance of Natural Capital to the Scottish Economy”. The project commenced in December 2023 and was completed in April 2024.

The aim of the study was to determine the sectors in Scotland that rely on high-quality natural capital, and to quantify the economic value of nature-dependent sectors at a national and regional geographic level. This involved measuring in economic terms something that existing economic statistics do not capture effectively. The method used therefore faced a trade-off between producing data that aligns to conventional economic statistics and approaches (i.e., the System of National Accounts), and using different approaches that more fully measure the economy’s reliance on natural capital.

The report values our economy's dependence on nature, estimating £40 billion economic output and 261,000 jobs supported. 

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