Assessing Multi-Dimensional Nature Dependencies in the EU: ENCORE Insights Country Dashboard Methodology

This paper outlines the methodology supporting the development of ENCORE Insights: Country Dashboard, an online platform funded under the Horizon programme and scheduled for launch in December 2025. The Dashboard enables users to explore the dependence of the 27 European Union (EU) member states on nature, combining data on economic structure and nature-related dependency to identify critical sectors most exposed to ecosystem degradation.  The methodological framework builds on existing approaches that link ENCORE’s nature dependency data with the EXIOBASE global input–output database. At the same time, we establish an alternative, multi-dimensional framework that explicitly differentiates between domestic and imported exposure to nature degradation, a distinction informed by the broader value-added in trade literature (Koopman et al., 2013). This distinction provides a more nuanced understanding of national vulnerabilities and supports the design of targeted regulatory policies. 

Our new framework allows us to quantify dependencies based on origin (domestic vs. imported value-added) and final use (gross exports vs. domestic final demand), covering both the production and consumption dimensions of the economy. Furthermore, we incorporate employment and wages data to include the dependency of wider socio-economic factors. This comprehensive decomposition allows the analysis to move beyond simple direct and indirect exposure to nature loss, providing a complete and granular picture of a country's total economic and social exposure via its whole supply chain, distinguishing between domestic and foreign imported components. 

As regulation, conservation and restoration initiatives need to be adapted to national contexts, distinguishing between domestic and imported dependence will allow a more targeted policy response. The resulting analysis and visualisations — fully transparent and open-access — will help policymakers, regulators, civil society, and financial institutions identify sectors and supply chains most at risk from nature degradation, thus informing strategies for sustainable economic resilience across the EU. This paper sets out the methodology used to calculate the exposure metrics across our proposed framework.