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Abstract
<jats:p>The depletion of natural capital, climate risks, and socio-economic pressures reveal limits in traditional sustainability indicators, which are often static, fragmented, and retrospective. While digital tech like AI, IoT, and big data enable real-time environmental monitoring, they are weakly integrated with economic valuation frameworks, reducing their effectiveness for adaptive governance. This chapter introduces Smart Natural Capital Indicators (SNCIs) to improve sustainability governance by combining natural capital valuation, ecological monitoring, and data intelligence into a unified, adaptive system. Based on environmental and ecological economics and smart systems theory, SNCIs are presented as decision-support tools rather than mere metrics. Examples in water, forestry, agriculture, minerals, energy, and urban systems show SNCIs' scalability and governance relevance. The chapter also discusses alignment with SDGs, ESG standards, and the European Green Deal, highlighting SNCIs' potential to enable evidence-based, transparent, and resilient sustainability decisions.</jats:p>