
AECOM EHS Service Summary Sheet
ECI Program
Forestry and Natural Capital Services
Service:
Forestry expertise:
- Forest inventory and mapping:
- Land Use Land Cover mapping using advanced GIS and remote sensing technologies.
- Design of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of GHG emissions – monitor changes in forest area vs. forest area benchmark.
- Strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the forestry sector:
- Inventory of GHG emissions/absorptions in forestry
- Design of zero-deforestation supply chains, Emission Reduction Programs.
- Knowledge Transfer.
Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services expertise:
- Impact valuation of natural capital investments (including expertise in social capital valuation)
- Natural capital accounting
- Environmental valuation
- Ecosystem services assessment
- Identification of Ecosystem-based mitigation and adaptation actions
- Monitoring and Evaluation
Innovation:
Forestry:
- Use of advanced GIS and remote sensing techniques
- Very high resolution imagery – satellite, drone, airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging) to interprete and/or calibrate scenes.
- Ability to combine various types of imagery in a single project according to complexity, image availability, scope of work…
- Ability to process very large amounts of data through dedicated servers and computing machines.
- Cost-effective methods to collect and process data
- “Zero-paper”: field work using light equipment (either tablets or cell phones) to collect field data, decreasing transcription time to zero.
- Use of advanced collection tools to improve geo-precision (GPS) and allow real time monitoring of field activities.
- Rent computing machine time or servers to increase processing capacities when needed.
Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services:
- Bespoke tools developed for clients to incorporate the six capitals approach into decision making (financial, manufactured, natural, human, social and intellectual).
- Awarded the National Grid Chairman’s Award for Innovation and shortlisted for the Finance for the Future Awards for innovative approaches.
Benefit:
- Understanding of total value of forestry investment including their role in providing key-environmental services and the opportunities linked to it
- Use of tested and validated methods, as well as standard procedures, ensuring compliance with GHG offsets mechanisms.
- Reducing the costs of forest monitoring per km2:
- Imagery costs are decreasing over time and become more and more available – some images are even free (ex: Sentinel, 10m precision). Complex projects may require a mix of free and non-free images, according to scope, budget, etc.
- Technology improves field data collection efficiency, reduce transcription time and allows real-time monitoring under certain conditions.
- Businesses are increasingly recognising the need to reflect the value of natural capital assets in their accounting systems to help support the long-term protection and sustainable use of the natural environment
- Incorporating natural capital into business accounts and decision-making processes can help companies to better recognise and manage risks to their business and promote business continuity.
- Natural capital approaches are applicable to various aspects of a company’s operations including for individual operating sites and specific supply chains.
Deployment Steps:
- Quantify natural resources
- Assess commercial, natural capital and ecosystem services provided
- Value provision of services to Novartis, value chain and wider communities / local economy
- Identify how value could be enhanced and savings generated
- Develop investment decisions and confirm business case
Timeline to Develop:
One/two months per site.
Rough Cost:
USD$20k to $400k depending on site habitat characteristics, acreage, scope of work, location and technology deployed
AECOM Team location:
- AECOM’s Forest, Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services excellence centres are based in Canada, Ecuador and UK.
- Deployment of technical experts can be global.
Novartis Interface Required:
Dr Markus Lehni (Novartis Sustainability Coach & Adviser):
markus.lehni@novartis.com
Link to more info / video:
N/A