Equitable, Net Zero & Nature Positive Finance
Accelerating Private Investment in sustainable land use
‘Business-as-usual’ land use for the big four drivers of deforestation - beef, soy, wood and palm oil and other commodities in which too much water is extracted for commodity production, forest are lost and species eradicated – is leading us on a path towards climate disaster and ultimately huge economic and financial costs for society.
A systemic transformation towards sustainable land use whereby agricultural commodity production is decoupled from deforestation, and whereby investments in forestry and agriculture lead to landscape restoration, climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity protection is possible. It requires fundamental shifts in the incentives provided by governments, such as through fiscal policies and trade agreements, as well as the will to act by agribusinesses, traders and financiers towards nature- and climate- positive land use.
UNEP's Climate Finance Unit mission is to actively works to develop innovative solutions to shift capital towards more sustainable forest and agri-food systems. In doing so, we aim to develop into a leading hub, facilitator and public-private platform to generate an inclusive social and economic paradigm shift towards making sustainable land use ultimately the ‘new norm’.
Our vision is for public and private capital to increasingly and systematically finance projects and businesses that achieve ‘net zero, nature positive’ and social impact across the forest and agri-food value chains. Find more
Overall, awareness of the financial materiality of biodiversity loss is rising. Businesses and finance institutions can make a significant contribution to accelerating the transition to net zero, nature positive and equitable investments required by 2025. This requires vision and willingness by governments, businesses, and civil society to put nature and climate investments at the heart of future economic growth. Additionally, governments through regulation, economic incentives and standard setting can advance the transition towards greening finance.
UNEP’s Climate Finance Unit contributes to the much-needed acceleration with results obtained in six impact areas across the sustainable land-use finance value chain:
Time to act: Doubling investment in nature by 2025
The State of Finance for Nature report, led by UNEP’s Climate Finance Unit (UNEP CFU), in collaboration with the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative with support from Vivid Economics by McKinsey, has found that finance for nature-based solutions (NbS) must urgently scale up to double current levels by 2025.
Most of the current financial flows to NbS still come from governments in the form of domestic expenditure. Private flows need to dramatically increase from the current USD 26bn per year if we are to limit climate change, halt biodiversity loss and reach land degradation neutrality by 2030.
This will only be possible if the “wave of disincentives” against NbS is turned around through reforming distorting and harmful fiscal policies, by embedding nature and climate incentives in trade agreements, and by actively developing and supporting businesses that put nature, climate and equitable benefit sharing at the heart of economic growth in the 21st century.
