"The paper describes the ongoing project begun by the UK Office for National Statistics and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2011 to compile comprehensive natural capital accounts for the UK. It describes the basis on which the accounts have been constructed, discusses key issues which have arisen, and presents the results to date. It also sets out how ‘restoration accounts' for individual projects can not only facilitate conventional cost–benefit analysis but also add to relevant material for decision-makers. More widely, the paper describes how natural capital accounts can underpin well-based decision-making—for example, in implementation of the UK government's new 25-year plan for the environment. In addition, by providing information on one of the ‘missing capitals', such accounts can augment analysis of the behaviour of the economy generally."

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