Restoring degraded land good for planet, investment — Report

A new research by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and World Resources Institute (WRI) has shown that businesses are making money from planting trees and growing sales as rapidly as 10 times per year.

The report said restoring degraded land is not only good for the planet, it’s also a good investment opportunities as well.

According to the report, through the analysis of 140 restoration focused businesses in eight countries and four continents, the business of planting trees shows that the economic benefits of restoring land are estimated at $84 billion per year and deliver a range of financial returns. 

“Reforestation also provides the single largest potential for storing carbon of any land-based natural climate solution. However, there is still a $300 billion shortfall in funding for restoration needed to achieve these outcomes at scale,” the report said.

It also highlights four promising investment themes of technology, consumer products, project management and commercial forestry and explores how far profit companies and impact investors can begin to close the financial gap while also turning a profit.

The Managing Director Global Lands for The Nature Conservancy, Justin Adams, said: “If we are to be serious about climate change, we have to get serious about investing in nature. The way we manage lands in the future could cost effectively deliver over a third of greenhouse gas emissions reductions required to prevent dangerous levels of global warming.”  

 He noted that political commitments like the Paris Climate Accord, the Bonn Challenge and the New York Declaration on Forests present a major opportunity for investment in restoration as countries seek to engage the private sector to help meet their commitments.

The report authors hope that it serves as a starting point for investors to understand the growth opportunity that exists within the restoration economy. 

However, the report stated that approximately 41 million trees are cut down every day, far faster than currently being replanted, adding that the consequences of deforestation and other types of land degradation are exacerbating climate change, biodiversity loss, and declines in ecosystem services.