Why invest in forests and nature?

The world faces multiple interconnected crises including climate change biodiversity loss, and land degradation. Forests and nature play a crucial role in these issues. For example, it’s estimated that nature-based solutions can provide 37% of cost-effective climate change mitigation efforts needed by 2030 to meet Paris Agreement goals and stabilize warming below 2°C. Yet there is chronic underinvestment in the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of forests and nature. A rapid scale-up of investments in nature-based solutions - amounting to a doubling of current levels by 2025 and tripling by 2030 - will be needed if we are to realize their full potential in addressing global challenges. While new investment in nature-forward projects, assets, and companies is one way to enhance global natural capital, addressing deforestation risk in existing portfolios is another. Despite growing pledges to stop deforestation by 2025, too many supply chains and investment portfolios remain exposed to forest-related risks.

In response to this urgent need, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is serving as the secretariat on two key initiatives created by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Change: The Forest Investor Club and the Forest Finance Risk Consortium.

Read on to learn more about these efforts and share your information via the links below to get involved.