Scottish Natural Capital Accounts: 2020
This report gives estimates of the quantity and value of services supplied by Scottish natural capital covering:
Agricultural biomass
Fish capture
Timber
Water abstraction
Minerals
Fossil fuel
Renewable energy
Carbon sequestration
Air pollution removal
Noise mitigation
Urban cooling
Recreation
4. Overview of Scottish ecosystem services
This article uses the term "ecosystem service" throughout, which generally refers to a flow of benefits to humanity from living (biotic) components of the Earth. However, non-living (abiotic) components, such as oil and gas used for energy, are also included in this release. A summary of the main trends is presented in this article, but more information can be found in the datasets accompanying this release.
This article presents 13 service accounts, containing estimates of the quantity and value of services being supplied by Scottish natural capital.
Table 1 Scottish ecosystem services asset valuation (£ million, 2018 prices)
| Service | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 to 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ million | £ million | Percentage change | |
| Provisioning | |||
| Agricultural biomass | 14,411 | 15,239 | 6 |
| Fish capture | 3,233 | 5,251 | 62 |
| Fossil fuels | 147,137 | 89,432 | -39 |
| Minerals | 1,263 | 1,484 | 18 |
| Timber | 5,062 | 5,221 | 3 |
| Water abstraction | 2,870 | 3,003 | 5 |
| Renewables generation | 2,248 | 3,400 | 51 |
| Regulating | |||
| Carbon sequestration | 40,484 | 41,114 | 2 |
| Air pollutant removal | 2,255 | 2,262 | 0 |
| Urban cooling* | 60 | - | |
| Noise mitigation* | - | ||
| Cultural | |||
| Recreation | 24,117 | 23,376 | -3 |
| Aesthetic (house prices)* | 616 | 545 | -12 |
| Recreation (house prices)* | 6,085 | 5,598 | -8 |
| Total | 249,875 | 196,019 | -22 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
Notes
1. * Services marked with an asterisk are new to this publication.
2. - Signifies insufficient data in all columns rather than no change.
3. Because of data constraints Noise mitigation estimates are only available in 2017
4. Noise mitigation asset value in 2017 has been included under Scottish total asset valuation in 2015 and 2016.
5. Urban cooling asset value in 2016 has been included under Scottish total asset valuation in 2015.
The total value of Scottish natural capital has declined 22% between 2015 and 2016, largely because of the 39% drop in the asset valuation of fossil fuels. The decline in the value of the fossil fuel abiotic provisioning service means that a greater proportion of the asset value was attributable to non-material benefits not directly captured in gross domestic product. The non-material benefits are regulating and cultural services, which made up 37% of the Scottish natural capital asset value in 2016, up from 29% in 2015.
Annual value by service, Scotland, 2016
Source: Office for National Statistics
Notes:
1. Noise mitigation annual value for 2017 is included.
In 2016, the total annual value of services was £3,857 million. Fossil fuel provisioning provided the highest annual valuation during 2016. This was followed by carbon sequestration, which provided an overall benefit of nearly £750 million, accounting for almost a fifth of the total annual value in 2016.
Of the services measured, urban cooling was the lowest valued service (£1 million) as not many Scottish "hot days" occurred during 2016. However, the cooling effect of green and blue spaces will provide greater benefit as summers tend to get warmer.
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