recovery of natural capital in its own long-term plans. Local authorities and major infrastructure providers should ensure natural capital is protected and enhanced (a reinforcement of Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006). Consideration should be given to establishing new National Parks in England; they should have extended powers to measure and value the key natural capital assets in their area. Natural capital approaches to managing biodiversity within river catchments should be encouraged by OFWAT. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) should further develop national natural capital accounting procedures, and include renewable assets and maintenance costs in its figures. There must be consistency between the government's Climate Change Committee recommendations and the 25 Year Environment Plan. The 4th report identified its own work priorities for 2017 as: Production of a 'How To Do It' guide, based on best practice; Production of advice on natural capital valuation under various conditions; Publish advice on determining targets and outcomes for the 25 Year Environment Plan; Carry on working with ONS and Defra to develop national natural capital accounting methods for land managers. The committee's final 'end of term' report was published in November 2020. Members The Committee was chaired by Professor Dieter Helm and supported by a small, full-time secretariat. Between 2012-2015 the Committee members were all from academia and business with expertise and experience in ecology and environmental science, economics and business. These were: Giles Atkinson, Ian Bateman, Rosie Hails, Kerry ten Kate, Georgina Mace, Colin Mayer, Robin Smale. In February 2016 the UK Government appointed new members of the NCC. These were: Ian Bateman, Professor of Environmental Economics, University of Exeter; Director of the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy (LEEP) Institute. Diane Coyle, Professor of Economics, University of Manchester. Paul Leinster, Professor of Environmental Assessment, Cranfield University; formerly Chief Executive of the Environment Agency. Georgina Mace, Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystems at UCL; Director of the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research (CBER). Colin Mayer, Professor of Management Studies at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Kathy Willis, Professor of Biodiversity, University of Oxford; Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Criticism Guardian columnist, George Monbiot, has been an outspoken critic of the work of the Natural Capital Committee and of other similar attempts to put a monetary value on natural capital assets and the free ecosystem services they provide. In a speech referring to