There has been a growing recognition of the potential of investments for nature, such as nature-based solutions (NbS), to address environmental challenges while providing multiple socio-economic benefits. While the flow of finance towards NbS is increasing, they remain severely underfunded, and the absence of consistent and monetisable revenue streams remains a key barrier for scaling up private finance towards NbS. Privately funded nature investments have strong growth potential. However, they require public finance support to de-risk investments and improved policy incentives and tax benefits to scale.

This paper, developed by finance sector members of the EU Business & Biodiversity (B&B) Platform, aims to foster a more sustainable relationship between resilient ecosystems and business activities. It also highlights six existing business cases that contribute to nature positive outcomes. These examples are identified according to high-opportunity sectors, considering materiality and impact of investment, such as in forestry, regenerative agriculture and urban ecosystems.

The paper was presented during our webinar series on COP16, which focused on private sector contributions to resource mobilization. The event was organized jointly by UNEP FI, the EU Business and Biodiversity Platform, PRI, and the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. It was also featured at an in-person Positive Impact & Innovations event held on October 30th at the Finance and Biodiversity Pavilion in the Blue Zone at COP16 in Cali, Colombia. The discussion centered around GBF Goal D and targets 14, 15, 18, and 19.

Read the full report or the summary to know more. Read more