Opinion Piece: Natural Capital Pilot

Wed, Feb 25, 2026

We have known it for years: without healthy soil and clean water, our economy has no future. Yet, the farmers who make this restoration a reality often come away empty-handed. While the risk of systemic exhaustion is structurally underestimated, the solution is closer than we think. By treating natural ecosystem services as intangible assets, we shift the focus from short-term profit to long-term resilience. Read here how we are bridging the gap between ecology and economy with a scalable, fair, and innovative model.

In recent years, attention toward natural capital—the ecosystems and natural resources that support both our economy and our well-being—has grown significantly. What began as an awareness of biodiversity loss and resource depletion has evolved into a matter of social and economic urgency. And rightly so. As long as we continue to treat nature as a free and inexhaustible resource, a sustainable future is impossible.

We have known this for years. Yet, fundamental systemic change remains elusive. Initiatives taken so far have barely led to a different way of valuing or interacting with nature. Our economy still views nature as a cost or an afterthought, rather than its primary source—even though it is now clear that 55% of global GDP depends on natural resources. The risks associated with this dependency are structurally underestimated.

Ironically, the financial world is now starting to realize this too—but for entirely different reasons. Major investment firms such as BlackRock and KKR are turning their attention toward natural capital. This shift is not driven by a visionary concern for the earth, but by the fact that scarcity equals profit. Wherever resources are threatened by scarcity, they move to secure their positions. As a result, returns may soon flow not to the farmers who have spent years working on nature restoration, but to the investors who only now see the money in it.

That is not the goal. After decades of "big agro" dominating the field, we risk seeing that role taken over by "big finance." Unfortunately, the same mistakes are being repeated: nature is being commodified while farmers are left empty-handed. It is specifically organic and regenerative farmers who provide ecosystem services—such as healthy soil, clean water, and increased biodiversity—which are essential to our society. Yet, they have received no reward for this. On the contrary, they often have to price their products higher to cover their costs, making them less accessible to people on smaller budgets.

This is not only unfair but also unwise, especially when you consider that conventional agriculture externalizes costs—such as soil depletion, pollution, or $CO_2$ emissions—onto society and future generations. This must change.

There is an urgent need for a competitive business model where farmers are rewarded for the ecosystem services they provide. A model where maintaining natural resources pays off, and where healthy products are not inherently more expensive. Science has agreed for years: organic farming is better for the health of both people and nature. It is time our economy reflects that truth.

Fortunately, there are opportunities. Using technologies such as satellite data, remote sensing, and AI, we can now measure the status and improvement of soil, water, and biodiversity in a scalable way. This makes it possible not only to monitor natural values but to actually assign a value to them. A logical next step is—in consultation with accountants—to record healthy nature as an intangible asset on a company's financial balance sheet. Natural capital then becomes more than just a nice term in policy papers. And while more institutions, from the World Economic Forum to the World Bank, emphasize this, it often remains at a conceptual level in practice.

This is why the Robin Food Coalition, as a coalition of sustainable frontrunning SMEs, is launching a Natural Capital Pilot. In this pilot, providers of ecosystem services, such as organic or regenerative farmers, are linked to investors. The provided ecosystem services will be treated as intangible assets, shifting expenditures from the profit and loss (P&L) statement to the balance sheet. This lowers costs, increases company value, creates more favorable financing and insurance terms, and improves the chain's resilience against weather extremes. In short, it strengthens the competitive position of sustainable companies.

Furthermore, it opens the possibility of trading the value created this way, thereby attracting investments from parties looking to compensate for ecosystem damage or those wanting to reduce future costs or risks. Think of water companies, real estate developers, or other parties for whom preventing damage is more cost-effective than cleaning up or repairing it. This creates a new cash flow that rewards farmers for sustainability. This can be organized per supply chain or bundled on a platform or fund.

By bringing together sustainable entrepreneurs, technology, and vision, we aim to develop a scalable solution. This is the moment to use Dutch innovation for a fairer, healthier, and more resilient system. Not for the returns of venture capitalists, but for the future of us all.

Eva Gouwens & Volkert Engelsman