The Central Bank of Chile will be part of the Natural Capital Committee

At the invitation of the Ministry of Environment, on July 29, the Board of the Central Bank determined its incorporation into the Natural Capital Committee, a body established by the aforementioned department that has the support of the National Council for Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation. The group’s goal is to advise and make recommendations regarding the measurement of Chile’s natural capital.

This project builds on work developed by the Natural Capital Commission set up in the UK in 2012, which motivated the “The Economics of Biodiversity: Dasgupta Report” published at the beginning of this year. This responds to the need to integrate the integrity of biodiversity and ecosystem services into economic analysis, in order to ensure that development is consistent with the protection of nature and the well-being of future generations.

in this line, The Central Bank’s contribution to the Natural Capital Committee through its Statistics Department, It will aim to identify concrete ways to measure Chile’s natural capital and information needs to achieve this, taking into account its experience in preparing national accounts and standards recently established by the United Nations in this matter.

Measuring and quantifying the ecosystem services that nature provides to people will help prevent further degradation Passing unnoticed, as well as evaluating policies for the preservation and restoration of ecosystems, with the aim of achieving economic development to be consistent with the protection of nature and the well-being of future generations.

BC’s participation in this initiative is in line with the increasing attention it pays to the environmental determinants of the economy and the risks it faces.

The expression of this was the publication this year of the “Carbon Footprint of the Chilean Economy 2017” study and the data that served as the basis for its preparation; Integrating the central bank into the network of central banks and supervisors for the greening of the financial system (NGFS); And the establishment of the Economics and Environment Group for the Institute of Issuance.

As the representative of the Central Bank of Chile on the Natural Capital Committee, Mr. Elias Elbaghli, Director of the Monetary Policy Division has been appointed. And coordinator of the economics and environment group at the institution.