The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index 2019

Natural Capital
Table of
Contents
2 Natural Capital
Natural capital is the basis on which a country is built: the physical environment
and climatic conditions, combined with the extent of human activities that have
or will affect the natural environment. The Natural Capital of a country reflects its
ability to sustain the population and the economy, now and into the future.
A nation’s natural capital is a given value – it is as it is – i.e. there are limitations
to human ability to improve or change the availability of natural capital. While it
takes little exploit natural capital, rebuilding or improving natural capital factors
is difficult, and requires significant time and resources.
Natural Capital Ratings 2019 – Key Take-aways
High-ranking countries are characterised by abundant water availability, the
source of a rich biodiversity. Many of the highest scoring countries are located in
tropical areas. While some of these countries currently may lack social,
intellectual and governance capital, their Natural Capital would allow them to
develop sustainable competitiveness over time. A certain correlation with the
level of human activities and population density can also be observed: large
countries with a comparably small population density and rich biodiversity tend
to score higher.
The Natural Capital Index is topped by Guyana, followed by Laos, Congo,
Cameron and Sweden. OECD representation in the top 20 is limited to Sweden,
Canada, New Zealand and Finland. The two most populated countries, China
(153) and India (163) are both affected by a combination of arid climate, high
population density and depletion levels, raising concerns over those countries’
ability to self-sustain their large populations in the long term.
The Natural Capital World Map. Dark areas indicate high, light areas low levels of natural capital
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