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The world faces a trillion-dollar-a-year biodiversity finance gap – a shortfall that threatens ecosystems, economies and communities.
Bridging it and preventing catastrophic nature loss and climate breakdown requires a radical shift in how we invest and a step change in funding for climate and nature action.
The Landscape Finance Approach offers a powerful remedy. By connecting ecosystem and value chain resilience with stronger business and financial performance, it unlocks the potential to scale investment in the land-, sea- and riverscapes critical to global supply chains.
WWF is calling on investors and companies to adopt the approach to help mobilise $20 billion for people and nature by 2030 and accelerate nature-positive, net-zero solutions.
To support implementation, WWF and partners Conservation Capital and the Sustainable Finance Coalition have developed a Landscape Finance Approach Toolkit comprising a summery guide, supplement with case studies and deep dives, practitioner playbook, and investor white paper.
Why now?
Global assessments show that we must reverse biodiversity loss and achieve net zero emissions this decade if we are to safeguard food security, water systems, and human wellbeing.
Yet, current levels of finance fall far short of the estimated $942 billion needed annually to restore nature.
At the same time, investors face increasing risks from climate change, biodiversity loss, and social instability. And regulatory frameworks like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and initiatives such as the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) are pushing financial actors to integrate nature and climate into their strategies.
By aligning public and private capital with conservation and community priorities at landscape scale, the Landscape Finance Approach offers a practical way to channel investment into nature-positive opportunities while reducing financial risks and delivering resilient economies, thriving ecosystems, and inclusive development.
To find out more, please contact WWF Sustainable Finance on finance@wwfint.org.
The Landscape Finance Approach follows a four-step pathway: understanding nature risks and opportunities; matching opportunities to finance interventions; implementing finance interventions holistically; scaling to additional landscapes.
NGOs, project developers, banks and investors, corporates, governments and regulators, development finance institutions, multilateral development banks, and philanthropic and impact funds all have important roles to play.
The first step is about understanding threats to nature, climate and people within a landscape - and then developing an inclusive conservation plan that describes both bankable and non-bankable opportunities and their costs and expected impacts, as well as ways of improving relevant policies and enabling conditions.
The Landscape Finance Approach begins with a deep understanding of place, people, and nature to create inclusive conservation plans. These plans map threats to biodiversity, assess human and economic activities, and engage local communities, NGOs, governments, and businesses to ensure equitable outcomes. They guide efforts to reduce pressure on nature, restore ecosystems, and build resilience while safeguarding human rights.
Opportunities within landscapes fall into three categories:
- non-bankable - such as protected areas and land restoration that rely on public or philanthropic capital
- bankable – such as restoration-linked enterprises and nature-based solutions that deliver both conservation impact and financial returns
- enabling conditions - such as strengthening supportive policies.
For corporates and financial institutions, conservation plans reveal where nature-related risks and opportunities lie, guiding proactive investments, partnerships, and policy alignment to achieve long-term ecological and economic resilience.
The second step is about matching financial interventions to bankable and non-bankable opportunities - including through market testing to ensure investee readiness, market demand, alignment with landscape priorities and stakeholders, and favourable enabling conditions.
Designing effective nature finance requires matching the right mix of financial instruments to opportunities identified in a landscape. Different mechanisms - such as grants, loans, equity, blended finance, conservation trust funds, carbon or biodiversity credits, and insurance - are suited to different types of interventions. Innovative tools like impact bonds, venture debt, or land value capture can also play a role. The key is aligning financial design with local conditions, market demand, investor appetite, and the capacity of implementing partners.
Success depends on several enabling factors. Strong investee capacity and financial expertise are critical to manage and deploy capital effectively. Reliable systems for data collection and reporting are needed to demonstrate measurable outcomes and attract investment. Market signals, such as demand for sustainable commodities or pre-purchase agreements for carbon credits, can strengthen viability. Finally, alignment with conservation priorities, community rights, and supportive policy frameworks ensures interventions deliver ecological, social, and financial benefits.
The third step is about implementing financial interventions – including putting in place clear governance, accessing appropriate forms of finance, and offering support through origination facilities, pilots and technical assistance.
Successful implementation of the Landscape Finance Approach depends on strong, credible implementing partners with the capacity to manage capital, backed by inclusive governance, clear conservation plans, and robust community benefit-sharing.
Key enablers include concessional finance to unlock commercial investment, origination support, technical assistance, pilots to de-risk projects, transparent monitoring and reporting systems, and secure tenure and policy frameworks. Platforms like the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development exemplify how early-stage support builds pipelines of bankable opportunities, catalysing large-scale blended finance for nature.
The Landscape Finance Approach is flexible, and can be adapted to the unique maturity, capacity, and financing needs of each landscape. It offers multiple pathways for channeling capital, from lighter-touch coordination to pooled facilities or public budget integration. Models include project-by-project alignment, sequenced capital ladders, lead-anchor platforms, programmatic credit windows, pooled funds, and sovereign fiscal frameworks. Each pathway has proven examples worldwide, from Zambia’s basin-wide stewardship projects to Costa Rica’s national payments for ecosystem services programme.
Beyond its application in specific locations, the Landscape Finance Approach provides a wider opportunity to drive transformative impact, through effective scaling within and across landscapes, and into national fiscal and financial systems.
This can be achieved through supporting implementing parties to build communities of investors, regulators and corporates who understand the potential of the approach; and by improving enabling conditions to further scale landscape finance approaches.
RESOURCES
A comprehensive guide that sets out the rationale, methodology, and high-level process for designing and implementing the Landscape Finance Approach. It provides practical tools and frameworks for governments, civil society organisations, development finance institutions, and investors working to mobilise finance at landscape scale.
A hands-on manual for practitioners and civil society organisations. The playbook distills the Landscape Finance Approach into actionable modules, with exercises, templates, and checklists that support project design and stakeholder engagement in landscapes.
A collection of real-world examples showcasing how the Landscape Finance Approach is being applied across diverse geographies, from the Cerrado to the Mekong Delta, illustrating both successes and lessons learned in mobilising finance for conservation and sustainable livelihoods. The supplement also includes deep dives into novel finance instruments implemented and designed by our partners and an overview of each organisation’s approach and resources used in implementing the Landscape Finance Approach.
A concise, investor-oriented brief that explains how the Landscape Finance Approach creates investable opportunities, reduces risk, and aligns with international frameworks such as Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science-based Targets Network (SBTN). It highlights how institutional capital, development finance institutions, and philanthropies can play a catalytic role in scaling nature-positive finance.
we collaborated with Conservation Capital and Sustainable Finance Coalition.
Conservation Capital is a specialist advisory and investment firm that designs and finances conservation enterprises and blended finance solutions to link biodiversity protection with sustainable economic growth.
Sustainable Finance Coalition is a collaborative platform that brings together financial institutions, NGOs, and technical experts to test and scale innovative financial instruments that mobilize capital for nature and climate solutions.