Materiality Ratings

Each economic activity’s potential dependencies and pressures on nature were assessed. For each dependency and pressure link, a materiality rating was assigned using the scale of Very High, High, Medium, Low or Very Low. The addition of materiality ratings allows users to determine which ecosystem services might be more critical to economic activities, which potential pressures might be of greatest concern, and what to prioritize for further analysis.

Materiality ratings in ENCORE aim to provide users with an indication of the significance of the potential nature-related dependencies and pressures identified for given economic activities. In ENCORE, “material” is interpreted as synonymous to significant or important to consider in the decision-making process. Fiduciary, regulatory or other dimensions of materiality are not considered in ENCORE materiality ratings.

ENCORE materiality ratings use a five-point rating scale of Very High (VH), High (H), Medium (M), Low (L) and Very Low (VL). They are designed for comparison of materiality across the entire economy, not within a specific sector. Each materiality rating is based on a set of quantitative or qualitative indicators. In some cases, we followed a blended approach with a combination of quantitative and a qualitative assessment of pressures and dependencies. Where there was suitable quantitative data available, use of quantitative indicators was prioritized.

The quantitative indicators were taken from the EE-MRIO database developed by ETH Zurich (see Cabernard & Pfister, 2021) and other sources. For example, the materiality ratings for the pressure of Volume of water use were assigned based on a set of water withdrawal and water consumption indicators from the EE-MRIO. Another example is the materiality rating for the pressure of Area of land use, which in addition to EE-MRIO also uses area use data from several global studies of land use footprint of different economic sectors and activities. Since the economic activities vary in size, where the materiality ratings draw on quantitative indicators, they are assigned based on the distribution of per 1 EUR of output values (e.g. volume of GHGs emitted per 1 EUR of output produced by the economic activity).

The qualitative assessments that fed into the qualitative or blended materiality ratings were conducted using the Delphi consensus building method. Two researchers independently assessed each combination of economic activity with ecosystem service or pressure against a set of questions. Mismatches were discussed to determine what the final materiality rating should be.

All dependencies on cultural ecosystem services (Recreation-related services; Visual amenity services; Education, scientific and research services; and Spiritual, artistic and symbolic services) were assigned a Very High (VH) materiality rating. Further building of consensus in the scientific community is needed on how these types of ecosystem services on how to assess the full scope of economic activities’ dependencies on these services. ENCORE users are encouraged to prioritise the cultural ecosystem services as potentially highly material as they have complex societal and economic implications.

All materiality ratings have undergone multiple rounds of quality assurance, including reviews by industry experts.

An overview of which materiality ratings were developed using a quantitative, qualitative or blended methodology can be found in the table below. More information about the materiality rating methodologies can be found in the Explanatory Note, which is part of the supporting documentation to the updated ENCORE knowledge base available for download from the Methodology & Downloads page.


Dependency materiality ratings that were assessed using a qualitative methodology

  • Air filtration services
  • Biological control services
  • Education, scientific and research services
  • Flood mitigation services
  • Genetic material services
  • Global climate regulation services
  • Local (micro and meso) climate regulation services
  • Noise attenuation services
  • Nursery population and habitat maintenance services
  • Other provisioning services - Animal-based energy
  • Other regulating and maintenance service - Dilution by atmosphere and ecosystems
  • Other regulating and maintenance service - Mediation of sensory impacts (other than noise)
  • Rainfall pattern regulation services (at sub-continental scale)
  • Recreation-related services
  • Soil and sediment retention services
  • Solid waste remediation
  • Spiritual, artistic and symbolic services
  • Storm mitigation services
  • Visual amenity services
  • Water purification services


Dependency materiality ratings that were assessed using a blended methodology (combination of quantitative and qualitative assessment)

  • Biomass provisioning services
  • Pollination services
  • Soil quality regulation services
  • Water flow regulation services
  • Water supply


Pressure materiality ratings that were assessed using a qualitative methodology

  • Area of freshwater use
  • Area of seabed use
  • Disturbances (e.g. noise, light)
  • Emissions of nutrient pollutants to water and soil
  • Emissions of toxic pollutants to water and soil
  • Introduction of invasive species


Pressure materiality ratings that were assessed  using a quantitative methodology

  • Area of land use   
  • Emissions of GHGs
  • Emissions of non-GHG air pollutants
  • Generation and release of solid waste 
  • Other abiotic resource extraction 
  • Other biotic resource extraction (e.g. fish, timber)
  • Volume of water use