The investment of G20 countries in nature-based solutions (NbS) need to reach 285 billion dollar per year by 2050 to address the interrelated climate, biodiversity, and land degradation crises, according to the UNEP report State of Finance for Nature in the G20′.
Now the G20 spending is only 120 billion dollar per year. The UNEP in the report mentions that spending gap in non-G20 countries is larger and more difficult to bridge. It also states that only two per cent of the G20’s 120 billion dollar investment (using 2020 as a base year) was directed towards official development assistance (ODA).
PRIVATE INVESTMENT
It also stated that private sector investments remain small with just 11 per cent or 14 billion dollar per year, even though the private sector contributes 60 per cent of the total national GDP in most G20 countries. Thus, the business and investment case for nature needs to be made stronger.
UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) along with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internation ale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) came out with the report in collaboration with Vivid Economics. It builds on the 2021 report, State of Finance for Nature – Tripling Investments in Nature-based Solutions by 2030′, which calls for closing a USD 4.1 trillion financing gap in nature-based solutions between 2020 and 2050.
TRANSFORMATION
World Economic Forum Director for Nature-Based Solutions Justin Adams said, “the climate and nature crisis are two sides of the same coin, and we can’t turn things around unless we transform our economic models and market systems to take nature’s full value into account.”
Meanwhile, Economics for the Land Degradation Initiative coordinator Nina Bisom said G20 countries can improve economic efficiency in nature-based solutions spending by targeting investments in non-G20 countries. “For example, the average cost of converting land from other uses to nature-based solutions in G20 countries is USD 2.600/hectare, while the same costs only USD 2,100/hectare for non-G20 regions,” Bisom said.
Head of UNEP’s Climate Finance Unit Ivo Mulder opined that governments can boost the investment case for nature, for instance by creating stable and predictable markets for ecosystem services like forest carbon or by using public money on below-market rates. “Systemic changes are needed at all levels, including consumers paying the true price of food, taking into account its environmental footprint. Companies and financial institutions should fully disclose climate- and nature
Mulder related financial risks, and governments need to repurpose agricultural fiscal policies and trade-related tariffs.
