The global challenges of climate change and biodiversity collapse cannot be overcome without a market exchange that can efficiently match varied demand for nature’s services with a clear and trustworthy source of supply.

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“Nature positive markets” create revenues by internalising nature’s products, services and attributes such as clean water, flood protection and certified seafood. A mangrove forest, for example, could produce revenues from carbon capture, flood protection, bioprospecting, and recreation. 

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However currently the markets are failing both on the supply side (the units of trade remain undefined), and on the demand side (citizens have no way to access the market).   Nature markets that do exist today such as voluntary carbon markets are small, restrictive, and risk-averse, and thus typically incapable of “making nature pay.” 

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It is therefore essential to create vibrant, functional, liquid nature markets that can match nature’s products and services with our equally broad and complex needs. This agenda is urgent - we are precariously close to irreversible state shifts in essential biomes such as rain forests and coral reefs.

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This major new F4B programme seeks to identify and tackle the systemic obstacles to the growth of nature markets including design of products, markets and trading platforms. It will contribute through:

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1. Knowledge development, catalyzing new narratives and ideas for high momentum platforms, opportunities, and tools.
    

2. Enabling new networks, relationships and communities of practice among key actors that create new markets.
    

3. The potential design and resourcing of a nature market investment platform that is prepared and equipped to launch markets on its own.

 

By 2025, funding nature-based solutions should rival today’s funding of climate solutions in terms of magnitude, business logic and basic modalities.  We hope to have contributed substantially to the funding rationale and mandate, the knowledge of investable domains, and the development of potential strategies for project and deal flow stimulation.

 

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