Nature-based solutions offer a powerful pathway to deliver resilience at scale—protecting coastlines from sea-level rise, restoring biodiversity that strengthens local economies, securing water and food systems, and stabilising critical biomes that underpin livelihoods. When designed and implemented effectively, these approaches generate substantial economic value while delivering competitive, risk-adjusted returns for investors. 

Drawing on insights from experienced practitioners, the session will help participants deepen their understanding of:

• Government-backed debt swaps, bonds, and innovative financial instruments that channel investment into nature-positive outcomes
• The practical application of nature-based solutions to deliver measurable economic, social, and environmental benefits
• How businesses, communities, and entire economies can reduce climate risk, enhance resilience, and create shared value through strategic investment in nature

The commercial rationale for investing in nature has become essential knowledge for investors, corporates, and financial institutions.  This dialogue explores the current business case for nature-based solutions (NbS), focusing on the most established and investable segments of the market: sustainable agriculture, reforestation, and grassland restoration. Drawing on real-world investment approaches, the session examines how these solutions can generate competitive financial returns while delivering environmental and social value, giving participants real insights into:

• The commercial viability and expected returns of commonly invested-in nature-based solutions
• How to evaluate, scrutinise, and conduct due diligence on NbS investments to manage financial and operational risk
• Key considerations around risk, liquidity, and scalability when allocating capital to nature-based assets

This session explores how financial institutions and corporations can identify, assess, and manage nature-related risks using emerging frameworks and data tools. It will examine how approaches such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), combined with satellite imagery, geospatial data, and other nature-risk analytics, can help organisations map exposure across assets, supply chains, and geographies.  Participants will gain insights into:

• How to identify and map nature-related risks and dependencies across portfolios and value chains
• The role of TNFD-aligned frameworks and data tools in supporting risk assessment and decision-making
• How nature-risk data can inform investment strategies and capital deployment to mitigate exposure and build long-term resilience

As climate, biodiversity, and systemic risks increasingly affect balance sheets, insurers are playing a critical role in strengthening economic resilience through long-term investment in nature. This panel discussion brings together leading insurers to explore how they are deploying their investment capital to support nature-based solutions, while enhancing portfolio resilience and managing long-term risk. Through real-world case studies, speakers will share where and how insurers are investing in nature, and the strategic and financial rationale underpinning these decisions.

The session highlights the unique role of insurers as providers of patient, long-term capital, and how this capital can deliver both competitive returns and measurable environmental and societal impact, giving participants insights into:

• The insurance sector’s business case for investing in nature and nature-based solutions
• Where insurers are allocating capital, and how these investments align with risk management, liability profiles, and sustainability strategies
• How patient capital from insurers can drive long-term impact, resilience, and scalability in nature-based investments

Businesses operating across food, fibre, and natural product supply chains are increasingly investing directly in nature to enhance resilience, manage risk, and secure long-term access to critical natural resources. These investments often combine on-balance-sheet capital with external finance, creating scalable structures that are attractive to a wider pool of investors.

This session highlights the convergence of corporate demand and nature-based solutions presents compelling investment opportunities: By anchoring capital to real-economy supply chains with established offtake and revenue pathways, these investments can offer relatively high liquidity and significantly reduced capital risk compared to traditional conservation finance.    Participants will learn how:

• Investments in nature can be structured to enhance supply chain resilience, reducing operational and climate-related risks.
• Corporations are bundling capital needs and partnering with external investors to create scalable, lower-risk, nature-based investment opportunities.
• Nature-based investments can deliver measurable financial, climate, and biodiversity outcomes, through supply chain investments.

Reforestation, afforestation, and grassland restoration are among the most established and investable forms of nature-based solutions. However, growing scrutiny around additionality, biodiversity outcomes, and local economic impact has highlighted the importance of how these projects are designed, governed, and financed.

This session explores how equity investment in nature-based solutions can be structured to deliver credible financial returns alongside measurable social and biodiversity outcomes. It will examine lessons learned from early projects, the factors that distinguish high-quality investments from underperforming ones, and how robust project design can address concerns around impact integrity and long-term value creation, giving participants insights into:

• How equity structures in nature-based solutions can support long-term financial performance and impact
• Key design principles that ensure additionality, biodiversity uplift, and positive local economic outcomes
• How investors can assess and manage impact risk, credibility, and long-term value in nature-based projects

The voluntary carbon market is undergoing significant change, and biodiversity credits are emerging. Ongoing scrutiny of REDD+ credits, questions around quality and integrity, and broader market volatility have reshaped how buyers and investors engage with nature-based carbon. At the same time, high-integrity nature-based credits continue to attract demand, with long-term offtake agreements being signed by leading technology and corporate buyers.

This session examines how the market for nature-based carbon offtakes has evolved, what has driven recent shifts in demand and pricing, and what this means for project developers and investors. Drawing on real-world examples, the discussion will explore how successful nature-based solutions have structured offtake agreements to secure predictable revenue flows and support long-term project viability.  The session will also look ahead to the future of the market, considering how frameworks are advancing to support both the advancement of carbon and biodiversity credit systems going forward.  Participants will gain insights into:

• How the nature-based carbon market has evolved, including lessons from REDD+ and other NbS credit types.
• What drives buyer confidence and demand for high-integrity nature-based carbon offtakes.
• The emergence of biodiversity credits, and the future of both carbon and biodiversity credit markets.

As investors look beyond terrestrial ecosystems, ocean- and coastal-based nature-based solutions—including kelp forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, and mangroves—are emerging as a new frontier for nature investment. While these solutions remain relatively nascent, they are becoming increasingly investable through innovative business models, entrepreneurship, and blended partnerships involving governments and philanthropic capital.

This session explores how marine and coastal nature-based solutions are being structured to attract investment, deliver climate and biodiversity benefits, and support resilient coastal economies. It will examine the role of public–private partnerships, policy support, and financial innovation in de-risking early-stage investments and enabling scale.

Participants will gain insights into:

• How ocean- and coastal-based NbS investment models are emerging and maturing.
• Examples of investment-ready models across kelp, seagrass, coral reefs, and mangroves
• The role of government partnerships and blended finance in building these investment models.

As climate, biodiversity, and nature-related risks increasingly shape economic stability, effective collaboration between the finance sector and governments is critical to scaling investment in nature and building resilient supply chains and economies.

This session explores the role of governments in creating the policy, regulatory, and financial conditions needed to unlock private investment in nature-based solutions. It will examine how Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework can be used to attract inward investment and align public and private capital.  The session will conclude with reflections on priorities and expectations for COP16 (Biodiversity) and COP31 (Climate), and what they may signal for the future of nature finance, giving participants insight into:

• How governments can support the scaling of private investment in nature to strengthen economic resilience
• The role of NDCs and NBSAPs in aligning policy frameworks with investment opportunities
• Key expectations and opportunities emerging from COP16 and COP31