Sustainable finance & capitals
Manufactured Capital
Definition
Manufactured capital is one of the six capitals defined by the International Integrated Reporting Council (now the IFRS Foundation's Value Reporting work): the manufactured physical objects available to an organisation for use in the production of goods or provision of services, including buildings, equipment, infrastructure (such as roads, ports and networks) and tools — whether owned or used.
References
Supports definition and framing.
Overview
What it means
The six-capitals model treats value creation as drawing on, and transforming, stocks of financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural capital. Manufactured capital interacts with natural capital (embodied resources and emissions) and human capital (safe, productive workplaces).
How it is used
Integrated reporters describe how their physical asset base creates value and its externalities; investors use capitals framing to assess long-term value and dependencies.
Why it matters
Naming manufactured capital alongside natural and human capital embeds multi-capital thinking in corporate reporting — a foundation of the sustainability-disclosure architecture.