Perspectives, insights and opinions from 1000 Landscapes experts and practitioners
Ecosystem restoration means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact. Evidence shows that this focus can help fight the world’s most pressing challenges. But to succeed, the private sector needs to be at the forefront.
A flurry of conservation- and landscape-finance developments took place late in 2021, spurred on by November’s UN climate conference (COP26) and others associated with it. The private sector, governments and development banks offered bold financial pledges and commitments.
One clear example of this determination is the more than 100 countries that pledged to end deforestation and land degradation by 2030, backed by $12 billion in public funds and $7.2 billion in private investment. Among the pledges, the UK government committed at least £3 billion to promote nature and biodiversity, including a new £500 million package to help protect 5 million hectares of rainforests. Meanwhile, more than 30 financial institutions—representing $8.7 trillion in assets—said they would phase out deforestation from their commodity portfolios by 2025.
Agribusiness companies are shifting their operations and corporate mission statements in ways that would be unheard of just a few short years ago. Their objectives are lofty–finding ways to future-proof their supply chains while addressing environmental degradation, climate change and the needs of the communities where they work.
This effort comes from a genuine place. Many now see the need to look at how their corporate decisions impact the broader world. And it’s being spurred on for many reasons: meeting sustainability commitments; reducing business risks associated with natural resource degradation, climate change and community relations; protecting fixed assets and securing supplies of critical resources or products not easily sourced elsewhere; and sharing or saving operational or investment costs.
Landscape finance was the talk of the town in Glasgow, Scotland, during November’s UN COP26 climate conference and another held by the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF). In this edition of the 1000L Finance Solutions Design Team newsletter, we review some of the critical landscape finance-related developments and reports that emerged from these events.
The world faces many critical challenges, from climate change to crushing rural poverty, massive species decline and widespread land degradation. More and more, businesses are joining governments and civil society to create solutions bold enough to have a global impact. But much more needs to happen for the corporate world to help turn the tide.
Those were the major takeaways of a recent high-level panel discussion hosted by 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People’s (1000L) partners and supporters EcoAgriculture Partners, Rainforest Alliance and the Laudes Foundation. The event, Better Business Through Integrated Landscape Management: An Executive Roundtable, featured 17 participants from global companies in finance, agriculture, food and beverage, retail, cosmetics and apparel.
During a recent conference on ecosystem services presented by the American University of Armenia’s (AUA) Acopian Center for the Environment, 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People (1000L) Chair Sara Scherr discussed one of the most robust solutions to address global issues: integrated land management (ILM). The approach combines natural resource management with environmental and economic considerations to optimize the outputs of all three.
The rapidly growing field of conservation finance was on display during September’s International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress (WCC). In part two of our event recap, we look at conservation and finance actors’ perspectives, insights and ideas for innovation.
Activity continues to bubble over in the world of landscape finance. So many people are talking about place-based investment, conservation finance and systems-change finance that it’s challenging to keep up with all of the most relevant reports and news. The 1000...
The 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People (1000L) initiative has made significant strides into its co-design, testing and demonstration phase. Advancements are coming fast because the collaboration is working directly with Landscape Partners to develop and test tools,...
When it comes to restoring landscapes for the long term, experts say we need to step back from individual projects and look at the bigger picture. In June 2021, the U.N. declared the next 10 years the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (UNDER), highlighting the...