This is a critical year for nature, with a series of global summits on biodiversity, food and climate change. Scientists are sounding the alarm over ecological destruction and the risk of irreversible damage to our planet. But natural solutions also offer some of the most exciting solution areas for sustainability.

Nature has never been under greater threat

The degradation of nature continues and there is rising concern over ecological tipping points. Over half of the world’s  GDP, $44 trillion of economic value, is at moderate or severe risk due to nature loss, according to the World Economic Forum.

Pressures on natural ecosystems are also amplifying other risks, including water scarcity and the risk of disease.

Temperature anomaly
185018601870188018901900191019201930194019501960197019801990200020102020-0.6°C-0.4°C-0.2°C00.2°C0.4°C0.6°C0.8°C1°C1.2°C

A temperature anomaly is the departure from the average temperature, positive or negative, over a certain period.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are two of the most pressing issues of the Anthropocene.

IPBES-IPCC Co-sponsored workshop: “Biodiversity and climate change: Workshop report“, June 2021

Figure 48: Share of studies showing negative effects of pesticides, by taxa, 2021 estimate
TaxaShare
Potworms81%
Earthworms79%
Woodlice74%
Termites62%
Beetles55%
Bumble bees54%

Humanity is waging war on nature. This is senseless and suicidal. The consequences of our recklessness are already apparent in human suffering, towering economic losses and the accelerating erosion of life on Earth.

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, February 2021

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There is growing interest in nature-based solutions for sustainability

Global search interest in “nature-based solutions” is soaring, and scientists are writing about it more frequently.

Global search-interest index
2010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020210102030405060708090100110
Number of articles
2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201802468101214161820222426

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There is rising interest in regenerative food systems that restore and nourish land, ecosystems and livelihoods

More companies say they are embracing regenerative agriculture. That said, the earlier experience with the watering down of “organic” is instructive here, and there’s already evidence of large agribusiness claiming to sell a few regenerative products while still, for example, supporting deforestation-driven beef production on a larger scale.

Figure 51: Number of entities using “regenerative agriculture“, global, 2005-19
Count
200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019020406080100120140160

“Entities“ includes companies, investors, organisations, and farms

Aware/never purchased38%
Started using >2 years ago25%
Not aware21%
Started using >2 years ago16%
No longer use0

No growers who have used regenerative agriculture have stopped doing so, according to a recent survey. Among those growers who currently use regenerative agriculture, nearly two-thirds said that they planned to use it more in the future

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And the pandemic led people to make radically different food choices

Different natural pathways have different mitigating potential over time.

Cooking at home moreEating healthier than normalEating moreSnacking less05%10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%55%60%65%
Share
2020
2021

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Investment activity in natural solutions is taking off

Private investment is accelerating across several key segments of natural solutions. Investment is largely focused on alternative proteins and other activity on the demand side. Other types of natural solutions discussed in this chapter are still at the early stages of scaling up.

2016201720182019202001,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,000
Green fuels
Forestry & wood products
Agricultural innovation
Other food & nutrition
Alternative proteins
Other

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Some countries are natural-solutions superpowers

Different countries have very different sequestration potential. Mangroves are one of nature’s most productive carbon assets, and can sequester carbon up to 400% faster than land-based tropical rainforests. Indonesia has 24% of the world's restorable mangrove ecosystem.

Figure 55: Carbon-sequestration potential from mangrove restoration, top five countries, 2020
CountryCO₂
Indonesia136Mt
Mexico57Mt
Brazil23Mt
Myanmar17Mt
Australia15Mt

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Frameworks for assessing nature and biodiversity impact are urgently needed

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures started to take shape this year, with the support of the G7 countries. Clear and robust frameworks are important for evaluating whether companies and portfolios are nature positive, and for ensuring there are strong safeguards around all natural solutions.

2.2

2.2 Regenerative food systems — from fringe to centre-stage

What we eat has a huge impact on our health

The number of overweight people in poorer countries is now rising rapidly, having been high for a while in the rich world. “Lifestyle diseases“ are thus becoming more common in poorer countries and will become ever more so.

And even in the world's richest countries, anaemia (and other conditions linked to deficiencies of certain nutrients) remains very high and there are indications that it may be rising.

The most basic problems with food continue to cause huge global problems. Each year worldwide, unsafe food causes 600m cases of foodborne diseases and 420,000 deaths, according to the WHO. 30% of foodborne deaths occur among children under 5 years of age. Even in the world's richest countries, food insecurity is a big problem — especially during the pandemic.

199020002010202010%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%55%60%
High-income
Upper-middle-income
Middle-income
Lower-middle-income
Low-income
Share
19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201905%10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%55%60%
High-income
Middle-income
Low-income
Bought less healthy foodBought less foodWorried about running outDelayed buying food05%10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%
Share
Often true
Sometimes true

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Food systems have a massive impact on the planet

Agriculture uses up huge amounts of land, and creates large-scale environmental damage, such as ocean dead zones.

Current global dietNo beef/ muttonNo beef/ mutton/ dairyNo meat/ dairy/ poultryVegan0500,000,0001,000,000,0001,500,000,0002,000,000,0002,500,000,0003,000,000,0003,500,000,0004,000,000,0004,500,000,000
Hectares
Cropland
Pasture

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Food systems account for a huge share of greenhouse-gas emissions

Food production accounts for around one quarter of all greenhouse-gas emissions. If the full food value chain is included, this increases to around one third.

SectorShare
Electricity and heat25%
Agri/forestry/landuse24%
Industry21%
Transport14%
Other energy9.6%
Buildings6.4%

Food-system emissions amounted to 18 Gt CO₂ equivalent per year globally, representing 34% of total GHG emissions. The largest contribution came from agriculture and land use/land-use change activities (71%), with the remaining from supply chain activities: retail, transport, consumption, fuel production, waste management, industrial processes and packaging.

Crippa, M., E. Solazzo, D. Guizzardi, F. Monforti-Ferrario, F. N. Tubiello, and A. Leip. “Food systems are responsible for a third of global anthropogenic GHG emissions.“ Nature Food 2, no. 3 (2021): 198-209.

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Conversion of land for agriculture is a major driver of deforestation
DriverHectares per year
Beef2.2m
Oilseeds0.95m
Forestry0.68m
Cereals0.50m
Vegetables/fruits/nuts0.38m
Rice0.29m

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We are seeing increased investment in food and beverage

Financing hit an all-time record in the third quarter of 2020. One of the hottest areas for investment is the alternative-protein space.

Funding
Deals
Q4/2017Q1/2018Q2/2018Q3/2018Q4/2018Q1/2019Q2/2019Q3/2019Q4/2019Q1/2020Q2/2020Q3/202002004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600020406080100120140160
Funding
Deals
Investment
Deal count
201020112012201320142015201620172018201920200$500bn$1,000bn$1,500bn$2,000bn$2,500bn$3,000bn$3,500bn$4,000bn$4,500bn020406080100120140160180
Plant-based
Fermentation
Cultivated
Deal count

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There is a clear uptick in demand for more sustainable products

Sales of organic food proved resilient in 2020, despite the shock of the pandemic. Has the pandemic made more consumers recognise the value of sustainable food?

Annual growth
2010201120122013201420152016201720182019202001%2%3%4%5%6%7%8%9%10%11%12%13%
Organic
Total
TypeYearly growth
Plant-based eggs168%
Plant-based meat45%
Tofu/tempeh41%
Plant-based milk20%

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There has been rising interest in plant-based food during the pandemic

Growth in plant-based meats continues to outpace growth in animal-based products

Year-on-year growth
2 Mar 9 Mar16 Mar23 Mar30 Mar 6 Apr13 Apr20 Apr27 Apr 4 May-20%020%40%60%80%100%120%140%160%
Plant-based
Animal-based

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This is part of a broader shift in diets and food choices
Cooking at home moreEating healthierEating moreSnacking less05%10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%55%60%65%
Share
2020
2021
We are only at the beginning of disruption in the food industry

Global consumption of beef is barely growing, but it is not yet falling.

Ten-year CAGR
1970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018-0.2%00.2%0.4%0.6%0.8%1%1.2%1.4%1.6%1.8%2%

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2.3

2.3 A raft of natural solutions for net zero and biodiversity

Achieving 1.5°C and net zero will probably require some level of carbon removal through nature-based solutions

Many 1.5°C scenarios make use of CO₂ removals at a huge scale. There are risks here. Over-dependence on removals via natural solutions, for instance, would have unsustainable impacts on land use.

Yet natural climate solutions will play a vital role in tackling the climate crisis as well as protecting biodiversity. Nature-based solutions could deliver one-third of emissions reductions required by 2030. This includes the critical goal of ending deforestation.

Agriculture is often a key sector for nature based solutions. For instance, planting cover crops in arable lands that have an off-season fallow period often increases the carbon sink capacity of the agroecosystem (see Lugato et al., 2020).

SolutionGtCO₂/year
Total6.7
Avoided deforestation3.5
Reforestation1
Peatland restoration1
Cover crops0.5
Trees in cropland0.3
Avoided coastal damage0.2
Coastal restoration0.1

We estimate a practical potential of close to 7Gt CO2 per year from NCS projects, sufficient to deliver around one-third of that target and to achieve carbon removal in the near term and at lower cost than technological solutions.

World Economic Forum/McKinsey “Nature and net zero“, May 2021

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Demand for NCS credits is growing rapidly in line with corporates’ net-zero ambitions

Demand for NCS credits has increased rapidly over the past decade.

Mt CO₂e
2010201120122013201420152016201720182019202001020304050607080

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There are huge challenges for nature-based solutions

They include:

  1. Ensuring that companies place more emphasis on cutting emissions over carbon removals, though both are required. Some companies are leaning on offsets or removals to deliver the bulk of their net-zero commitments.
  2. Effective long-term governance over carbon removals, and monitoring and reporting programmes. Recent studies have shown (again) how difficult this is — look at the examples of the California offset scheme and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
  3. Getting the guardrails right for nature-based solutions is key to ensure sustainability and deliver real climate and other critical ecological benefits. Financial innovation can’t run ahead of safeguards and governance.
Many scenarios rely on biomass energy with carbon capture and storage at huge scale

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is the process of extracting bioenergy from biomass and capturing the carbon, thereby removing CO2 emissions from the atmosphere.

Studies highlight the massive implications for food, soil and forests. A growing body of research shows that BECCS on a large scale could have negative impacts on core dimensions of human and ecosystem well-being. Due to its land-use impact, widespread use of BECCS could lead to increased food prices as a result of competition between agriculture and other land uses.

Figure 71: Share of studies on BECCS demonstrating negative effects, by type of impact
TypeShare demonstrating negative impact
Biodiversity86.4%
Food security72.6%
Deforestation67.3%
Health impacts64.3%
Soil and water64.1%
Employment7.0%

Large-scale deployment of land-based carbon-dioxide removal would have far-reaching implications for land and water availability [...] and may impact food production, biodiversity and the provision of other ecosystem services

IPCC

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It’s not only a climate story. There is growing business and investor interest in the wider role of natural solutions

Deals and investment are rising rapidly in the “natural solutions” space. There is also rising investor focus on protecting biodiversity and promoting regenerative practices, going beyond a narrow focus on climate outcomes.

US$ Millions
Number of transactions
2016201720182019202005001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,000100150200250300350400450500550600650700
Total deal volume ($M)
Number of transactions

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Use of “bio-based“ and similar terms is taking off in consumer and industrials sectors

Media mentions of “bio-based” and similar terms are rising quickly.

Number of articles
20172018201920202021050100150200250300350

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Natural solutions for construction are proliferating

Long-lived wood products that are harvested from sustainably managed forests have been around for decades but are being applied in a wider variety of buildings, helping to displace emissions-intensive concrete and steel and storing carbon often for many decades.

Other nature-inspired solutions for construction are emerging too, such as the production of bio-cement using bacteria, though these are yet to achieve scale.

American Framing, Pavilion of the United States at the 17th International Exhibition of Architecture La Biennale di Venezia, photo: American Framing, 2021

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Bioplastics are also taking off

Bioplastics production capacities are rising rapidly. Biodegradable plastics could play an important role in tackling the marine plastic crisis, but they will need to both scale up and prove their environmental performance.

That said, there is reason for caution. Roughly 40% of these bioplastics are not biodegradable and it’s only a minuscule percentage of the overall production at the moment. Emissions are also generated in the production of plastics. There is also the question of waste management at the end of usable life.

Production capacity
20192020202120222023202420250200kt400kt600kt800kt1,000kt1,200kt1,400kt1,600kt1,800kt2,000kt2,200kt2,400kt2,600kt2,800kt3,000kt
Bio-based/non-biodegradable
Biodegradable

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Companies are making “nature positive“ commitments backed by real resources

Business for Nature has identified over 1,200 examples of companies taking action for nature. Some recent notable examples include:

  • Unilever is setting aside EUR €1 billion to fund nature regeneration projects, including achieving a deforestation-free supply chain, promoting regenerative agriculture, and transitioning to biodegradable ingredients by 2023.
  • Nestlé is committed to 50% of its agricultural ingredients coming from regenerative agriculture by 2030.
  • Microsoft has pledged to be net negative for current emissions by 2030 and then remove historical emissions by 2050. Its carbon removals will come from sequestration in nature, especially in the short term.

These are ambitious goals, but questions remain over the credibility and stringency of some nature-positive commitments.

Governments will play a key role in helping natural solutions to scale up quickly

Overseas development-aid funding for natural solutions is increasing rapidly. Sub-Saharan Africa is a particular beneficiary of such funding.

To put this in context, the biodiversity financing gap has been estimated at between $598 billion and $824 billion per year by the Paulson Institute.

Figure 75: Overseas development aid funding for nature-based solutions for adaptation, 2012-18
Funding ($'000)
2012201520180$200$400$600$800$1,000$1,200$1,400$1,600$1,800$2,000$2,200$2,400$2,600$2,800
Germany
UK
Sweden
Japan
US
Funding ($,000)
2012201520180$500$1,000$1,500$2,000$2,500$3,000$3,500$4,000$4,500$5,000$5,500
Sub-Saharan Africa
LatAm Caribbean
South/Central Asia
East Asia/Pacific
Europe
MENA

Nature-based solutions (NbS) can be used for a variety of objectives, including climate change mitigation and/or adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and disaster risk reduction

World Resources Institute, “Public international funding of nature-based solutions for adaptation: a landscape assessment“, March 2021

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