Balancing bankability and integrity: fostering investment-ready nature-based solutions
Chausson A., Zu Ermgassen S., Bull J., Milner-Gulland E., Hafferty C., Newing H., Swinfield T., Carter H.
As climate change and biodiversity loss intensify, the world must nearly triple its annual spending on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) from USD200 billion to USD542 billion by 2030. Mobilising substantial private and public investment is critical, yet questions remain about how best to align financial returns needed for repayment of investments (“bankability”) with the social and ecological integrity that make NbS truly effective. Based on research by Wild Business for WWF, this report offers a clear roadmap for doing just that, spotlighting core tensions and practical strategies to overcome them. It draws on interviews with private finance stakeholders and experts, a literature review, and insights from WWF’s NbS Accelerator programme, where projects around the world have grappled with attracting private, returnable funding. Four central tensions emerge: (1) the need to generate short-term returns versus the multi-year commitment required for lasting community and ecological benefits; (2) the emphasis on measurable, profit-driven metrics versus intangible but crucial social and cultural values; (3) investor preferences for certainty versus the adaptive, participatory governance NbS demand; and (4) misaligned incentives that may place disproportionate risk on local communities.