Foreword In recent years, nature finance has moved from the margins of sustainable investing into a critical area of focus for investors, corporates and policy-makers alike. Growing scientific clarity on the material risks of biodiversity and nature loss, coupled with greater momentum towards global nature goals through the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), has led to the emergence of a dynamic set of financial innovations for nature. Yet markets still struggle to consistently reward positive nature outcomes. Unlike climate finance, which has advanced significantly through decades of policy alignment and standardization, nature’s challenges are starker – it remains underpriced, undervalued and underfinanced. The landscape of nature finance is rapidly evolving. From sovereign debt instruments and blended capital platforms to biodiversity credits and emerging asset classes, a growing range of mechanisms is being deployed to fund, finance and de-risk nature-positive action. These span both concessional and returns-seeking capital, involve public and private actors, and are designed for multiple purposes – from funding high-integrity conservation to building regenerative business models. This diversity is a strength, but it also presents a challenge: stakeholders must now evaluate this ever-expanding toolkit to select and scale up the most fit-for-purpose solutions. This report aims to support that effort. We examine the financial mechanisms that enable specific projects or nature-positive interventions – the transaction structures and capital flows that can unlock investment at scale. The goal is to provide a practical framework to help institutional investors, banks, asset managers and development actors identify the right finance solutions for the right context and strengthen the enabling environment around them. This report is the work of a productive collaboration between the Global Future Council on Natural Capital and The Nature Markets and Biodiversity Credits Initiative that is supported by McKinsey & Company. Achieving a nature-positive economy requires coordinated action. We hope this work contributes to the shared effort required to build financial systems that value, steward and regenerate the natural world.Akanksha Khatri Head, Strategy and Impact, Centre for Nature and Climate, World Economic ForumJosh Katz Partner, McKinsey & Company Finance Solutions for Nature: Pathways to Returns and OutcomesSeptember 2025 Finance Solutions for Nature: Pathways to Returns and Outcomes 3

Finance Solutions for Nature 2025