To what extent is it possible to see nature not as a risk and cost factor, but as a central form of capital for business success? Decision-makers in the 21st century should have an answer to this question. This book combines an analysis of the growing decoupling of the economy and ecosystems with practical instruments for integrating nature into strategic corporate management. It shows how a stronger focus on nature contributes to future viability and provides concrete approaches for making ecological complexity usable in a corporate context.

The content

• Historical path dependencies shape today’s economic activity

• Geo-ecology and the Anthropocene as an analytical horizon

• Making natural capital measurable with SEEA, NCAVES and AESA

• Using nature markets for CO₂ and biodiversity credits

• Transforming corporate governance – new management logics

“A well-founded and practice-oriented contribution to one of the decisive debates of our time.” Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner, President of the German Environment Agency

“A wake-up call with pioneering perspectives. The governance and control mechanisms for transformation already exist.” Prof. Dr. Klement Tockner, Director General of the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research

“An important contribution to an economy that acknowledges and integrates systemic interdependencies.” Dr. Simon Berkler, Co-founder of The Dive

Dr. Anna Katharina Meyer, a political scientist, completed her doctorate at the Chair of Accounting & Controlling at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. She is the co-founder of FindingSustainia, a space for entrepreneurial transformation, a board member of the Club of Rome Germany, and active in the DIN Expert Forum on Sustainable Finance as well as on the Sustainability Board of BIB eG. As a Venture Grant Specialist at capacura, she provides targeted support to impact founders.

Markus H.-P. Müller, an economist by training, deals with the global challenges of sustainability, structural change, and economic transformation. He is an editor at Springer Gabler, the author of several books, and a columnist for the Global Policy Journal. He is currently Chief Investment Officer Sustainability at Deutsche Bank.