As the world confronts an escalating climate crisis, resource depletion, and the fallout of ecological collapse, global conversations are shifting toward recognising that economic growth must be balanced with environmental sustainability. At the heart of this shift is a powerful and controversial idea: ecosystems, though traditionally considered “free goods”, must be recognised and measured as economic assets.
This movement, commonly known as Natural Capital Accounting (NCA), is reshaping how nations, from high-income economies to developing countries, perceive and protect their environmental wealth. According to the World Bank, a collapse in key ecosystem services, such as pollination, carbon sequestration, fisheries, and timber, could cost the global economy up to US$2.7 trillion by 2030 under a business-as-usual scenario. For low-income nations, the impact would be even more severe, with average annual GDP losses reaching 10% and potentially higher in countries heavily reliant on these natural systems.
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For Africa, where the majority of the population depends directly on nature for survival, this conversation is not academic. It is central to the continent’s development future.
Ecosystem services are estimated to be worth nearly twice the value of the global GDP, which currently stands at around US$106 trillion. To put this into perspective, the estimated US$20 trillion loss in annual ecosystem services between 1997 and 2014 is comparable to erasing a quarter of today’s global economic output. These vital services, ranging from clean water provision and flood control to pollination and climate regulation, form the unseen foundation of economies and human well-being. Yet, despite their immense value, they remain largely absent from national economic accounts and GDP metrics. This economic invisibility has fuelled overexploitation and chronic neglect. According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), nearly 70% of global ecosystem services have already been degraded, with Africa shouldering a disproportionate share of the consequences.
Africa’s Nature Crisis
The African continent is rich in biodiversity and natural assets. Forests in the Congo Basin store over 30 billion metric tonnes of carbon. The continent’s rivers, wetlands, and woodlands underpin agriculture, energy, and water security. In reality, more than 70% of Africa’s rural population depends on natural ecosystems for food, fuel, and livelihoods. Yet, these same systems are collapsing under the strain of population growth, commercial exploitation, and climate-induced stress.
The Economic Commission for Africa revealed that Africa loses an estimated $68 billion annually due to environmental degradation, more than the total infrastructure investment made across the continent in some years. Deforestation, desertification, and water pollution are not simply ecological issues. They represent economic haemorrhaging, weakening the very foundation of future growth and resilience.
In countries like Zambia, natural capital accounts developed with World Bank support showed that renewable natural resources, such as forests, fisheries, and water, make up nearly 40% of the country’s total wealth. This contrasts sharply with high-income nations, where produced capital like infrastructure and machinery accounts for the bulk of national wealth. In Uganda, similar assessments led to restructured land use planning to preserve high-value forest regions. South Africa’s water accounts, developed using ecosystem accounting frameworks, revealed that agricultural irrigation accounted for over 60% of freshwater withdrawals, spurring water efficiency policies. These examples point to a compelling trend: valuing ecosystems economically changes how governments plan and act.
Global Frameworks
To standardise and guide this shift, the United Nations adopted the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), a global framework designed to integrate environmental and economic data. The SEEA Central Framework focuses on stocks and flows of natural resources such as timber, water, and energy. Meanwhile, the SEEA Ecosystem Accounting, adopted as an official statistical standard in 2021, extends the model to include the condition and services of ecosystems themselves.
This framework does not aim to privatise nature but to ensure it is no longer invisible in policy decisions. Under SEEA, countries can calculate how much water a wetland purifies, how much carbon a forest sequesters, or how much erosion a mangrove forest prevents. This turns conservation from a moral plea into a measurable economic decision.
Rwanda, Botswana, and Uganda are among the African countries already piloting or implementing SEEA accounts. These accounts have influenced real policy outcomes, from informing compensation mechanisms for forest communities to revising agricultural subsidies that previously incentivised land degradation. The African Natural Capital Accounting Community of Practice, launched with World Bank support, is expanding this work continent-wide.
The Ethical Contours of NCA
Despite its promise, the movement to put a dollar value on nature is not without criticism. Some environmentalists warn that monetising ecosystems risks commodifying nature, turning sacred landscapes and community forests into transactional assets. There is also concern that valuation could open the door for land grabs under the guise of green investment, particularly in contexts where land rights are weak.
However, advocates of natural capital accounting argue that inaction is more dangerous. When nature is treated as worthless in economic models, it is predictably degraded. In reality, there is a difference between valuing nature and pricing it. The former is about recognition and accountability. The latter is about markets. For Africa, which holds a quarter of the world’s biodiversity and one-fifth of global forest carbon storage, NCA offers a path to reclaim economic agency over its natural resources.
As it stands, African countries receive less than 5% of global biodiversity finance, and the carbon markets continue to undersell African carbon credits. While credits in Europe can trade above €200 per tonne, African credits often sell for as low as $3 per tonne. This disparity not only devalues the continent’s climate services but also limits investment in conservation, reforestation, and clean energy efforts that communities desperately need.
Aligning Policy with Planetary Reality
Natural Capital Accounting can be a game-changer only if it is paired with institutional reform. Ministries of finance, not just environment, must integrate natural capital into national budgeting, planning, and public investment strategies. Education and capacity building must support this transition, ensuring African statisticians, ecologists, and economists are equipped to manage complex NCA systems. Most importantly, communities who live closest to the land must be central stakeholders, not peripheral beneficiaries.
The 2022 launch of the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA), bringing together leading African financial institutions, is a sign that the continent is taking this shift seriously. Their goal is to embed nature into financial decision-making and portfolio risk management. Meanwhile, pilot projects in Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana are exploring how NCA can improve resilience to floods, food insecurity, and drought.
An Urgent Case for Counting What Matters
Africa stands at a crossroads. It can continue on a path where nature is exploited without accountability, leading to deepening poverty, inequality, and environmental collapse. Or it can embrace a new model of development, one that accounts for the true value of ecosystems and uses that knowledge to drive inclusive, long-term prosperity.
Natural Capital Accounting is not a silver bullet. But it is a necessary lens through which Africa can begin to redefine wealth on its own terms. To safeguard its future, Africa must count what counts. Not just GDP, but the forests that breathe life into the economy. Not just exports, but the rivers that sustain its farms and cities. In this new era, valuing nature is not an option. It is an imperative.
