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INTRODUCTION: DRIVING VALUE TO NATURE
As Forest Trends approaches 25 years of work on conservation finance, I find myself reflecting not only on what we’ve accomplished in this year alone, but also how far we’ve come together over the past few decades. During this time, we’ve seen immense progress in harnessing market-based instruments to get us closer to meeting global climate and biodiversity goals, from carbon and biodiversity markets, REDD+ and other payments for ecosystem services, natural infrastructure investments, and more. (If you’re interested in taking a deeper dive, we’ve just published a paper detailing past challenges and future opportunities for scaling finance for tropical forest conservation.)
But even more importantly, there is a lot of work left to be done and we must think about where we’re headed next. In 2025, there are critical elections across the globe. There are key climate target deadlines and regulations like the EU’s Deforestation Regulation are on the horizon. Next year also marks only five years left to meet 2030 global climate goals – a glaring wakeup call. I am energized by the momentum leading up to the first Amazon climate COP in Brazil in 2025. With the track record and political will from Brazil’s new administration, this COP has potential to make tremendous strides toward strengthening indigenous rights and environmental conservation.
I see this moment we’re in as a critical window of political will and opportunity to drive more value to nature – one of the most important climate strategies we have. At Forest Trends, our strategy is focused on taking stock of how far we’ve come and making sure those learnings help us map out where we need to go to fully integrate nature into the global economy.
Central to this strategy is the upcoming 25th anniversary gathering of The Katoomba Group. Since its founding, The Katoomba Group has been a key force in developing new paths forward for finance for nature. This upcoming meeting is particularly special to me, as it will take place at the location of the group’s first meeting in Katoomba, Australia in 1999. It is also an opportunity to lay the groundwork for discussions at upcoming global events such as the Australian Government’s Global Nature Positive Summit, the biodiversity COP in Colombia next month, the Belém Brazil COP at the end of 2025, and the COP 31 back in Australia – all governments that see the tremendous potential for investments in nature to address the urgent climate and biodiversity challenges.
Ahead of Katoomba, our team is gathering in New York City for Climate Week NYC. We’re excited to host and participate in numerous events that will map out and bring together the matrix of market tools at play that we need in our toolbox to put an economic engine behind conservation. A selection of Forest Trends events at Climate Week is available below.
For anyone interested in connecting in New York, we would love to hear from you, and I look forward to sharing insights and conversations from New York and Katoomba soon.
Michael |
