50 Investible Opportunities for a New Nature Economy Report Primer 2026

1Nature’s critical role in economic resilience and growth Business leaders increasingly recognise that taking action on nature – from climate change to water stress to pollution – can not only build business resilience, but also generate new opportunities. Yet current capital flows remain deeply misaligned: in 2023, $7.3 trillion was invested in activities harmful to nature, vastly outpacing the $220 billion invested in nature-based solutions.1 This investment gap not only represents a profound market imbalance but also reveals an opportunity for value creation. For executives and investors, nature-positive investment is a strategic tool to safeguard long- term growth and operational resilience. Beyond mitigating vulnerabilities related to resource scarcity, supply chain disruptions and shifting regulation, nature-positive strategies deliver tangible economic and financial benefits – including innovation pathways, cost savings, diversified revenue streams and stronger brand loyalty. Organizations embedding these investments into their frameworks today are building the adaptive, resilient businesses of tomorrow – capable of thriving amid evolving environmental and market dynamics. Nature finance is rapidly gaining traction as a pivotal component of investment portfolios, yet several misconceptions persist. Clarifying these myths is critical to unlocking the full potential of nature- positive capital flows (see Box 1). Nature-positive strategies deliver tangible economic and financial benefits – including innovation pathways, cost savings, diversified revenue streams and stronger brand loyalty. Three myths about nature finance BOX 1 Myth 1: Nature-positive investments do not generate market-competitive returns and are only relevant to impact investing and concessional finance. Reality: Nature can also be a core component of investing in business resilience, operational improvements and new revenue streams. Recent market performance of nature- positive investments is encouraging. The overall green economy, including clean water and recycling services, accounted for nearly $8 trillion in listed equity market value in 2024 and has outperformed global equities by ~59% since 2008.2Myth 2: Nature-positive investments only apply to biodiversity-rich ecosystems, such as forests and farmland, and are distinct from other sustainable finance (e.g. climate, circularity, blue finance). Reality: Nature-positive investments address all five drivers of nature loss: climate change, land/ocean- use change, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution and invasive species. Nature loss originates not only in forests and farms, but also from industrial activities, farming and housing. Myth 3: Nature-positive investments are primarily focused on conservation and restoration activities. Reality: Nature-positive investment is not limited to funding conservation or restoration alone. It also covers nature recovery finance for strategies that actively reduce harm and pressure across value chains.3 This includes investments in operational changes that mitigate negative impacts at industrial sites, enhance water and resource efficiency in factories, promote sustainable sourcing in agriculture and support circular practices that decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. 50 Investible Opportunities for a New Nature Economy 3