Investing with Nature: An Introduction to Nature-based Solutions

The regeneration and sustainable management of our planet’s ecosystems offer significant opportunities for the financial sector and the society, generating benefits in terms of carbon sequestration, income generation, disaster risk reduction, and increased biodiversity. At the same time, as we near irreversible tipping points for our planet, central banks and policymakers have recognized that financial systems must play a role in safeguarding nature. For the world to limit climate change to below 1.5°C, halt biodiversity loss and achieve land degradation neutrality, it is estimated that annual investments into nature-based solutions (NbS) need to rise to USD 674 billion by 2050. This is a steep increase from the current investments in NbS amounting to USD 154 billion, with only 17% of this coming from the private sector. The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in December 2022 calls for the use of NbS in targets 8 and 11 specifically. With private finance being included as a way to increase the level of financial resources to implement national biodiversity strategies and action plans in target 19(c) of the Framework, NbS, therefore, represent an exciting emerging area of conservation finance and blended finance, which is closely linked to net-zero commitments and growing expectations on biodiversity finance. About the series: To help financial institutions discover practical ways to invest in NbS, our new “Investing with Nature: Exploring Investment Opportunities Across Ecosystems” webinar series was born with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. This first webinar of the series will give you an introduction to NbS investing and NbS-related products that have come to the market.