Measuring net-positive outcomes for nature using accounting

In their recent commentary on international policy on nature conservation, Bull et al.1 make a timely argument that if biodiversity is to be conserved (a proposition for which there is overwhelming support), policy must shift from a focus on avoiding losses towards one that focuses on net outcomes, or more specifically on targeting netpositive outcomes. Under such an approach, losses and gains would be quantified in ‘an integrated framework that permits transparency as to whether biodiversity goals are being achieved’. We argue that such an integrated framework already exists in the form of the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA)2 . The challenge is to incorporate biodiversity accounting in international policy, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and make it operational.