Financing Nature for Resilient Prosperity

Dew shown on a dark leaf after a rainy day. Photo courtesy of Unsplash/Dan Carlson

Why Natural Capital Matters for the Future of Development

Nature is the foundation of the global economy. Forests, oceans, soils, biodiversity, and freshwater systems provide essential services that sustain life and economic activity, from pollinating crops and filtering water to regulating climate and protecting communities from natural disasters. Together, these assets form what economists call natural capital: the stock of natural resources and ecosystems that generate vital benefits for people and economies.

Yet despite their essential role, nature’s valuable contributions are not accounted enough in financial systems or development planning. As a result, economic activity often contributes to nature’s assets’ depletion rather than their protection. Restoring and investing in natural capital has become one of the most urgent opportunities to support both sustainable development and long-term economic resilience and the Development Bank for Resilient Prosperity (DBRP) is a committed leader in this space.

The Financing Gap for Nature

According to the World Economic Forum, more than half of the world’s total GDP, $44 trillion of economic value generation, is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services. However, the financial flows dedicated to protecting and restoring ecosystems remain far below what is required.

Traditional conservation funding—often dependent on philanthropy or government budgets—has not been sufficient to meet the scale of global environmental challenges. New financial approaches are needed to mobilize capital from public, private, and philanthropic sources to support nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration.

Closing the nature finance gap requires rethinking how development institutions, investors, and governments value and finance natural assets. By anchoring natural ecosystems at the center of development finance, the DBRP aims to shift global thinking: from nature as an externality to nature as the foundation for prosperity.

A New Approach: Development Banking for Nature

The DBRP, also known as the Nature Bank, aims to address this gap by mobilizing innovative finance for ecosystems and communities.

“The DBRP is being established not as an abstract statement, but as an institutional response to a structural problem. It is intended to mobilise finance for resilience and nature-positive development in ecologically vulnerable economies,” says Dr. Gene Leon, Executive Director of the Nature Bank.

Rather than viewing nature as an externality, these approaches treat healthy ecosystems as productive infrastructure, essential to economic stability, climate resilience, and human wellbeing.

A nature-focused development banking model could:

• Mobilize public and private capital for nature-positive investments

• Support debt-for-nature swaps and innovative financing mechanisms

• Strengthen national capacity for natural capital accounting

• Finance restoration, conservation, and climate resilience projects

• Unlock investment opportunities aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals

By linking finance, data, and policy, these institutions can help transform natural capital into a cornerstone of resilient development.

Why It Matters Now

As climate risks intensify and biodiversity declines, the cost of ecosystem loss continues to grow. At the same time, investing in nature offers one of the most powerful opportunities to advance sustainable development, protect vulnerable communities, and strengthen global economic stability.

Revitalizing nature investments has benefits that continue to pay off. Restoring 350 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 could generate up to $9 trillion in net economic benefits, while also removing significant amounts of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, according to analyses cited by UNEP and the Bonn Challenge during this UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

Financing nature is no longer only an environmental priority; it is an economic imperative. 

Through innovative platforms and programs like the DBRP,  PVBLIC Foundation is advancing new pathways to ensure that natural capital is protected, valued, and invested in as a pillar for shared prosperity.