The purpose of this business brief is to show that leading companies—around the world and across sectors—are citing business reasons for investing in nature-based solutions and the restoration of natural systems. The illustrative case examples on the following pages show that early corporate movers are now engaged with green infrastructure projects as well as ecological restoration initiatives that work withnatural systems and address business issues and challenges, or realize new opportunities. Many of these early adopters are finding that natural systems-oriented initiatives are benefit multipliers, which—when designed well—make business sense while also offering community and environmental benefits. It is time for a cohort of fast followers to explore this body of work, and consider crafting business solutions that work with, restore, and maintain the natural systems in which companies are literally situated—with the potential of realizing multiple returns and benefits.
The focus of this brief is on corporate initiatives that are conceived of, financially supported by, and implemented within the company itself—and are not driven by regulation. This brief does not review the broader public policy context that exists in various countries, such as the United States, which enables private capital investment, including through compliance options. This policy context has been well documented in a series of reports and articles by Forest Trends and the Ecosystem Marketplace. While we urge business decision makers to understand and assess real estate and risk-management opportunities within this public policy- and regulation-enabled context, our focus is on corporate actions around the world that are investing in nature-inspired solutions and ecological restoration for stated business reasons—above and beyond regulatory drivers.
This business brief draws upon both a review of both NGO and academic literature related to corporate investment in ecological restoration, as well as 32 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2015 with thought and practice leaders from the private, public, and non-profit sectors—all of whom work on ecological restoration, green infrastructure, and investments in watershed structure and function.
Sissel Waage is the lead author of this brief, with key research conducted by Beth Richmond. Any errors are those of the lead author alone. Please direct comments or questions to Sissel Waage atswaage@bsr.org.
