4 Tips to Secure Finance for Nature
28 February 2024// Resources // Article
Almost $7T of finance each year supports activities that directly harm nature. Meanwhile there is an annual $830B nature finance deficit for nature restoration. Currently, over 80 per cent of the capital allocated to nature-based solutions comes from governments— clearly, bridging the nature finance gap requires the private sector to step up. Fortunately, nature and biodiversity targets have seen a significant uptake by the private sector in recent years. We hope these resources help you capitalize on this momentum to secure your nature project finance.
- Approach companies with nature targets: thousands of companies collectively managing hundreds of trillions of dollars in assets have set biodiversity and nature targets or pledges. We’ve compiled some of the leading frameworks and standards (hyperlinked to a list of their members), which will give you an indication of which organizations you can approach for either philanthropic, or nature investment capital.
- Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC)
- Natural Capital Investment Alliance (NCIA)
- Finance for Biodiversity Pledge
- Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
- 1T.org Pledges
- 1T.org Alliance
- Nature Action 100
- Act4Nature
- Business for Nature (BfN)
- Business & Biodiversity
- Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) Nature Target Setting Working Group
- Science based Targets Network SBTN
- Capitals Coalition
If you would find it useful to have access to a searchable database of ‘Who’s Financing Nature’, including each company’s targeted regions, ecosystem preferences, financial commitments, and types of funding—please let us know in the comments below.
2. Align with corporate and investor frameworks: beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many of the frameworks mentioned have specific targets for nature restoration and investment. These include:
- Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB)
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
- International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)
- Science Based Targets Network (SBTN)
3. Position Your Project’s Ecological Benefits the Corporate Way: there is a language gap between ecologists and corporates. To bridge the gap, we have mapped ecosystem services and sub-services—using the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology and The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity (TEEB)—to their potential in reducing climate and nature-related risks or contributing to opportunities, in alignment with the respective Task Forces on Climate and Nature-related Financial Disclosures. Explore our Taxonomy to communicate your project’s potential impact in a more business and investor-friendly way.
4. Use Symbaiosys’s Valuation Portal: which provides the economic value of ecosystem services in alignment with the TNFD and ENCORE. Read more and access here.
If you’d like to see more useful content and resources like this, please leave us a comment or suggestion.