Carney to launch natural capital accounting task force to assign economic value to nature
Mark Carney will launch a natural capital accounting task force in spring 2026 to quantify nature’s economic value and steer public conservation investments.
Canada will establish a national task force on natural capital accounting, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced after unveiling a C$3.8-billion nature protection strategy in March 2026. The initiative aims to create methods to quantify ecosystem services so governments and businesses can factor nature into financial decision-making. Former environment minister Steven Guilbeault, speaking at the Montreal Climate Summit on April 16, 2026, described the measure as a practical tool to support conservation funding.
Carney announces experts group and mandate
In March 2026 Carney said the task force would be created in spring 2026 to develop accounting rules for natural capital and nature finance. The group’s mandate will include recommendations on how to measure the value of ecosystems and how to integrate those values into public accounting and investment processes. Carney framed the effort as bringing the same rigor to ecosystem monitoring that is applied to economic and financial performance, a step he says is necessary to unlock sustained investment in conservation.
Guilbeault frames accounting as a conservation lever
Steven Guilbeault told reporters the political objective is to make conservation investments visible in government books rather than treating them solely as expenditures. Guilbeault argued that if nature can be given a recognizable monetary value in official accounts, it will be easier for policymakers and businesses to justify and target long-term investments. He emphasized the practical intent behind the policy, while also saying he supports protecting ecosystems for their intrinsic worth.
Experts remain divided over monetizing ecosystems
Economists and environmentalists are split on natural capital accounting, with prominent academics and commentators voicing contrasting views. Oxford economist Alex Teytelboym has argued that assigning monetary value to services such as clean water and pollination corrects market failures and can reduce the risk of overexploitation. By contrast, writer and activist George Monbiot contends that putting prices on nature risks commodifying it and may accelerate its degradation rather than protect it.
International and academic examples cited
Advocates point to international precedents where monetary estimates for ecosystem services have influenced policy. The International Monetary Fund published a 2019 estimate placing a monetary value on services provided by a blue whale, factoring carbon sequestration and marine fertilization into the figure. Such high-profile examples illustrate both the conceptual reach of natural capital accounting and the methodological challenges in assigning dollar values to complex ecological functions.
Canadian municipalities already piloting natural asset registers
A 2025 study for the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo found more than 150 local Canadian governments have begun inventorying and assessing natural assets. The report, authored by Joanna Eyquem, categorizes ecosystem services into provisioning, regulating and supporting, and cultural services, and highlights early municipal efforts to disclose natural-asset information in financial reports. Eyquem warned that these initiatives remain uneven in scope and quality, pointing to the need for national standards to ensure comparability and reliability.
Policy, finance and practical hurdles ahead
Implementing national natural capital accounting will require resolving technical, legal and ethical questions, officials and experts say. Methods must accommodate diverse services — from pollination and flood control to mental health benefits of green spaces — and establish which values are reflected in public accounts versus non-financial disclosures. There are also concerns about the potential for market mechanisms to favor well-valued services while leaving others unprotected, a point critics emphasize when urging safeguards against commodification.
As Canada moves to formalize natural capital accounting, proponents argue the task force could standardize measurement and unlock private and public funds for conservation, while critics caution against equating every ecological function with a price. The coming months will show how the group designs frameworks that balance scientific complexity, economic incentives and the ethical imperative to preserve ecosystems for current and future generations.
