The issue of financing biodiversity is a priority, impact investment is one of the levers.
While COP 16 has just concluded in Colombia, the issue of financing the preservation of biodiversity is at the forefront. The emergency? Find 200 billion dollars each year by 20301 to protect nature, as provided for in target 19 of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement adopted at the previous COP.
The issue is urgent. It is also global. All indicators measuring biodiversity on a global scale show a decline. The issue is all the more crucial given that more than 50% of global GDP depends on biodiversity2. Private financing is called upon to be mobilized more in favor of the protection and restoration of biodiversity. However, according to a Morningstar study3only 34 funds, all European, weighing $3.7 billion in assets in total, are focused on biodiversity – the only fund dedicated to the United States was closed in February 2024. And for the first time, these funds have been collecting since the beginning of the year.
Directing funding towards business models that act in favor of biodiversity is a priority. One of the levers is impact investing. Pioneers of impact investing listed in France, we are convinced of its importance in attracting capital to companies committed to the protection and restoration of our ecosystem.
Faced with the scale of the challenges, all sectors of the economy must, in our opinion, be involved. Starting with agriculture, the second largest source of CO2 emissions and the main factor in environmental destruction. We are therefore interested in ambitious players, like DSM-Firmenich, a specialist in ingredients for health, nutrition and beauty. This Swiss company, very mature on climate and biodiversity issues, has notably developed a natural solution, Bovear, which drastically reduces methane emissions from ruminants.
Another global issue and priority sector is water, for which global demand will increase by 55% by 2050, according to the World Economic Forum. However, its recycling is estimated at only 11%, with significant disparities around the world. An issue that Veolia is addressing, which announced, during its Water Tech Day in October, its intention to increase the turnover of its water recycling and treatment activity by 50% by 20304.
While the global ambition to achieve “nature positive” status by 2030 could generate more than $10 trillion in opportunities5these examples demonstrate the ability of companies to capture commercial opportunities while generating positive impacts. Their innovative solutions offer opportunities that we seek to capture.
1Novethic, 28.10.2024.
2Nature Risk Rising: Why the Crisis Engulfing Nature Matters for Business and the Economy, World Economic Forum, 2020.
3The Landscape of Biodiversity and Natural Capital Funds, 10.2024.
4Morgan Stanley, 17.10.2024.
5How to unlock $10.1 trillion from the nature-positive transition, World Economic Forum, 07.2024.
Related News :