Leveraging economic and financial systems for sustainability

Market approaches that create economic incentives have been widely used to encourage positive outcomes for nature conservation. Such approaches include natural capital accounting to quantify benefits from natural systems; valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services; and encouraging the financial sector to invest in natural systems in order to generate financial returns.

Ecosystem accounting and market driven approaches have proved useful in enabling the public and private sectors to more accurately recognise impacts on nature and promote positive conservation outcomes. However, these approaches are not without challenges, including accounting for social values, influencing public policy and priorities, and securing sustainability. How can the use of ecosystem accounting and economic valuation methods be mainstreamed to better understand the drivers of biodiversity loss? How can economic analyses be more effectively integrated into policy and decision-making at the national level? And, what are its implications for livelihoods, employment, development and governance?

Mobilising conservation finance remains a challenge, despite the growing consensus of the need to close the current financial gap, both for climate and nature. How do we shift from construing nature conservation as a cost to framing it as an investment in a sustainable future? How do we change the way in which we measure economic returns? How can investments from the private sector in key ecological systems be enhanced? How do we ensure improved access to financial resources for conservation efforts at all governance levels? Also, how can environmental and social safeguards used by the financial sector be improved to advance nature conservation and protect the rights of indigenous people and local communities?

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