The Five Capitals model of Sustainable Development was developed by Forum for the Future in the 1990’s. It provides a way of looking at the various component parts of the development equation in such a way that decision makers, businessmen and developers can form balanced, ‘capital enhancing’ plans. The model describes the five capitals thus:

Natural capital
The natural resources (energy, environment and matter) and processes needed by organizations to produce their products and deliver their services.

Social capital
Any value added to the activities and economic outputs of an organization by human relationships, partnerships and co-operation.

Human capital
Incorporates the health, knowledge, skills, intellectual outputs, motivation and capacity for relationships of the individual.

Manufactured capital
Refers to material goods and infrastructure owned, leased or controlled by an organization such as tools, technology, machines, buildings and all forms of infrastructure.

Financial capital
Reflects the productive power and value of the other four types of capital and includes those assets of an organization that exist in a form of currency that can be owned or traded.

The Five Capitals approach provides a basis for understanding sustainable development in terms of the economic concept of wealth creation or ‘capital’. All organizations utilize these five types of capital to deliver their products or services. A sustainable organization will maintain and, where possible, enhance these stocks of capital assets, including the natural resources and the environment, rather than contribute to their depletion or degradation.

From our own personal experience we recognize the consequences of imbalance caused by looking at development on any scale and in any region from the perspective of a single ‘capital’. Building any one ‘capital’ at the expense of the others will eventually lead to a position where further development becomes impossible. Business, the environment and quality of life will suffer – a ‘lose, lose’ situation.

In choosing this name it is not our intention to indicate that the focus of our activities is on building or promoting the theory of the five capitals, rather, we are acknowledging the value of this model as an aid to contextualizing the competing pressures of development.

Through our choice of trading name we intend to make clear our pragmatic approach and philosophy to keep this balanced thinking at the forefront of all we do.

We firmly believe that this holistic perspective will mean that we offer better ‘value adding’ advice to all our clients – a ‘win, win’ situation.

5 Capitals is a dynamic management consultancy that integrates environmental and sustainability advice, to provide practical solutions for public and private sector clients throughout the Middle East.

Operating from its base in Dubai and Satellite offices in Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Fujeirah. 5 Capitals has an expert team with extensive experience of helping businesses to find bespoke solutions to their environmental and sustainability challenges. In addition, our team has an enviable reputation for capacity building within commercial and public sector (Government) organizations and in the development of world class environmental standards which are suited to the particular needs of the region.