Connect
Events, networks and peer exchange.
A regular programme of online seminars and workshops, an annual conference, and the everyday connections between practitioners that a scattered field has never had.
About
About the Society
A professional association for a field that has grown into one, established to give practitioners the shared home, standards and voice they have not had.
Why the Society is needed
Natural capital accounting is becoming an established field of professional practice. It is undertaken in statistical offices, government agencies, universities, consultancies, businesses and civil society organisations around the world. Until now, practitioners have lacked an association dedicated to their shared professional development and practice. The Society has been established to fill that gap.
One timely opportunity is the update of the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), with global consultations running through 2026 and completion expected in 2028. An organised profession can bring practitioner experience to that process in a way scattered individuals cannot. The professional need, however, is enduring and does not depend on any single standards revision.
Governments, businesses and financial institutions are developing related approaches to natural capital measurement, accounting and disclosure. The Society provides a forum for examining where these approaches align, where they differ, and how practice can become more coherent — avoiding duplication and building on established practice.
What the Society does
We will develop professional pathways, beginning with a competency framework and recognition of continuing professional development, and explore the case for professional accreditation or certification in consultation with members and employers.
A technical working group provides a forum for more complex measurement and implementation questions. The Society's technical work is anchored in the SEEA while engaging constructively with related public, corporate and community sector frameworks.
About the technical working group
Scope and reach
The Society is incorporated in Australia and welcomes members from all countries. Its initial programme is delivered primarily online, enabling participation across regions and disciplines. Membership is individual: members join in their own right rather than as representatives of their organisations.
01Our work
Four streams of work
Develop
Skills, competencies and professional pathways.
A competency framework, recognition of continuing professional development, and — in consultation with members and employers — an examination of the case for accreditation or certification.
Advance
Methods, standards and research.
A technical working group for the harder measurement and implementation questions, anchored in the SEEA while engaging with related public, corporate and community frameworks.
Represent
Coordinated practitioner contributions.
Considered practitioner input to consultations and public discussion — including the SEEA update — in a way that scattered individuals cannot achieve alone.
02Foundation year
What we will be judged on
Five priorities for 2026–27, against which the Society will report to members.
- 01
Establish a regular professional programme
A dependable rhythm of online seminars and workshops — at least six in the foundation year — that members can plan around.
- 02
Contribute practitioner perspectives to the SEEA update
Organised, evidence-based input to the global consultations running through 2026 on the update to the SEEA Central Framework.
- 03
Develop a draft competency framework
A first description of what practitioners in this field need to know and be able to do, developed in consultation with members and employers.
- 04
Hold the inaugural conference
A first gathering of the profession in Canberra in February 2027, with presentation materials and selected papers published afterwards.
- 05
Establish sustainable governance and member services
Working governance, transparent policies, and member services that can be sustained beyond the establishment period.