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Nature Based Solutions - A review of current financing barriers and how to overcome them

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have tremendous potential to deliver on global priorities for climate change, biodiversity, and land degradation. However, to do so, global flows into NbS need to quadruple to at least USD 500-970 billion per year by 2050 according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). While investments in NbS have grown, the market is not yet adequately mature and lacks sufficient participation especially from private investors. To bolster private investment in NbS, the World Wildlife Fund United Kingdom (WWF-UK) aimed to better understand the main barriers and bottlenecks. 

The Solution 

WWF-UK commissioned a review of barriers to accessing finance for, and investing in, nature-based solutions by Terranomics. Leveraging our network and expertise in financing nature-based solutions, we interviewed experts across mainstream financial institutions, impact investment funds, and NbS-focused accelerators, incubators, and financiers. A framework of main barriers was developed from qualitative interview findings, and further validated through follow-up interviews with stakeholders. Lastly, we hosted a roundtable to identify potential solutions to identified barriers.  

Our Impact 

Through its Nature-based Solutions Accelerator, the Climate Solutions Partnership (CSP) between HSBC, WWF and the World Resources Institute (WRI) are now leveraging the report and its findings to identify potential solutions they can co-deliver to mitigate major barriers to investing in NbS. More broadly, the public-facing report has provided a ‘baseline’ or ‘state of play’ of NbS financing that has informed decision-making across various stakeholders.