The Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network (ESKTN) aims to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy by connecting businesses, universities, and government agencies. It focuses on emerging environmental technologies and is funded by the UK government, so membership is free. Key priority areas include sustainable land management, food production, ecosystem services, biodiversity, and natural capital. The ESKTN works with initiatives like the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, which evaluates the economic value of ecosystem services, and the Natural Capital Initiative to engage businesses in sustainability. An upcoming workshop will bring together business and academic partners to develop collaboration opportunities.

1. Environmental Sustainability
Knowledge Transfer Network
Dr Anne Miller
Knowledge Transfer Manager
University of Oxford, UK

2. Environmental Sustainability KTN mission:
Accelerating the transition to a low carbon, resource and energy
efficient economy by connecting businesses, universities, other
research organisations & Government agencies
Catalysing innovation across emerging environmental technologies
Funded by UK Government so membership is FREE!

3. ESKTN Key Priority Areas
Our Priority Areas have
been identified as those
offering the greatest
potential for businesses
to develop innovative
and environmentally
sustainable products and
services.

4. ESKTN Priority Areas in Sustainable Land
Management and Food Production

5. Ecosystem Services & Business

6. The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity (TEEB)
• TEEB for Business now focussing on how can we
achieve a shift in corporate behaviour to
preserve and enhance our natural capital?

7. The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity (TEEB)
New initiative to convene and engage a global
community of organisations already active in this area
from business, society and government
What will the outputs be?
• the establishment of a Coalition and the associated
engagement processes
• the production of methodologies for valuing impacts

8. Ecosystem Services & the UK NEA
Launched June 2011
First attempt to put
an economic value
onto all these
services as an aid to
decision making

9. UKNEA evaluation process

10. NEA findings: Trade offs
“The transition to a more sustainable use of ecosystems
and their services can be facilitated by taking a more
integrated, rather than conventional sectoral, approach
to their management, recognising that some difficult
trade-offs will have to be made between individual
ecosystem services”
“Governments, the private sector, voluntary and civil
society at large all have key roles to play in the
transition to a more sustainable use of ecosystems”.

11. UK NEA: where next?
• UK NEA and ecosystem
service valuation will
form a key part of
Government policy:
already in National
Environment White
Paper and the Water
White Paper

12. UK NEA: where next?
• Valuing Nature Network and Natural Capital Initiative
already doing more work funded by NERC, along
with the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
programme launched in 2011, but not yet very
engaged with industry.
• Defra also just launched their Ecosystems
Knowledge Network to-co-ordinate all these activities
and also running additional projects: (NEA2).

13. Natural Capital & Ecosystem Services

14. Extract from 13th March Programme
• The UK National Ecosystem Assessment, the Valuing Nature Network (VNN) and the
Business Sector Prof. Ian Bateman
• NERC’s Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BESS) programme: links and
opportunities for Business Prof. Dave Rafaelli
• Opportunities for business engagement through The Natural Capital Initiative(NCI)
Prof. Rosie Hails
• Business engagement with Defra’s UKNEA2 Dr Robert Bradburne
• Business case studies-
• NERC’s internship programme
• Workshop bringing together business and academic partners to develop bids

15. Contact points
• Defra’s network is at:
www.naturalcapitalinitiative.org.uk/ekn
• Link to NERC/ESKTN 13th March workshop
registration is at:
http://natural-capital.eventbrite.com