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Putting nature at the heart of our economy – Marc Palahí explores the vital role of nature-based investing
key takeaways.
Investing in nature is essential if we are to tackle the deep causes of the climate and ecological crises, by putting nature at the heart of our economic system
Chief Nature Officers (CNOs) can transform finance by aligning investment decisions with planetary limits and mobilising capital towards nature-based solutions
With ecosystems collapsing, and a shortage of biodiversity financing, only a regenerative economy supported by sustainable investments can ensure long-term economic, social and physical resilience.
Published in Le Temps on 16 June 2025
Following the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 2025), held recently in Nice, one thing is clear – transforming our economy by investing in nature is key to tackling the deep causes of the climate and biodiversity crises. The financial sector, in particular, has an essential part to play by hiring Chief Nature Officers (CNOs), who are able to align financing with planetary limits, mobilise capital towards nature-based solutions and transform our failing economic model. The economy of tomorrow will only prosper if it does so in harmony with nature.
It will not be possible to solve the environmental crisis unless we understand, value and invest in nature for what it fundamentally is – the true driver of our economy. Nature underlies our entire economy, providing the key infrastructure that regulates our planetary system: our climate, the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe.
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Nature is the fabric that supports every process in the living world, including all our economic processes. The deep causes of the climate and biodiversity crises are systemic, so it is essential and urgent that we respond to these crises by understanding, rethinking and transforming our economy to place nature at its heart.
The job of a CNO is to provide a new science-based vision, so financial and political decision makers can grasp the reality of today’s world in terms of the planetary limits that we, and our economy, have to operate within. The financial sector has to understand the laws of nature that govern our planet and, in turn, condition our economic activities.
The job of a CNO is to provide a new science-based vision, so financial and political decision makers can grasp the reality of today’s world
Nature is the most real and valuable asset we possess. Over the past two centuries our economic system has been based on extraction, in particular on extracting and burning fossil fuels – we have operated at the expense of nature, the climate and our own future.
We have now reached a tipping point, as several planetary limits have been exceeded (climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, soil degradation, deforestation, etc.). In economic terms this means that our environment can no longer absorb the shocks created by our economy, and that our economy, having failed to value nature, must now bear the cost of destroying nature. Insured losses linked to climate change and the degradation of ecosystems worldwide are already reflecting this impact, and have doubled over the past ten years compared to the previous decade.
The financial sector has to understand the laws of nature that govern our planet and, in turn, condition our economic activities
EUR 90 billion at risk by 2050
At the same time, many supply chains are on the verge of collapse due to the combined effects of climate change and the degradation of nature. Coffee and cocoa prices, for example, have been hitting record highs over the past two years.
A recent report from Howden estimated that extreme weather events have already caused almost EUR 28 billion in losses to crops and livestock – equivalent to 6% of the EU’s food production. These losses could rise to as much as EUR 90 billion by 2050 if the current situation continues.1
The job of a CNO is to put all these consequences and interdependencies into context, devise nature-based solutions, and finance the cost of adapting and transforming current and future economic activities to make them resilient to climate shocks and extreme weather.
In addition, CNOs have to act as a figurehead when it comes to creating a new narrative for participants in the financial sector, including the clients and pensioners to whom we owe a fiduciary duty, by explaining why and how we need to shift to an economy centred around nature if we are to have a viable future. CNOs need to be catalysts for change.
The challenge for CNOs is to make the financial sector understand that nature is not just an asset class [...] but the basic infrastructure that enables our economy to function
They will only succeed in this, however, if teams and organisations in the financial sector are willing to rethink and redesign their practices, processes and structures to rise to the unprecedented systemic challenge we are facing.
The UNOC 2025 conference underscored that protecting our oceans is not only crucial for the climate and biodiversity, but also for ensuring the viability of the ocean economy.
Destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling don’t just have a negative impact on marine ecosystems; they also undermine economic viability, deplete fish stocks, and weaken the ocean’s ability to provide a range of ecosystem services, including adaptation and resilience to the growing impacts of climate-related risks. Both the private and public sectors must support a transition to more sustainable fishing practices and strengthen the role of small-scale fisheries, while protecting biodiversity and providing climate-related services.
The global biodiversity financing deficit has been put at over USD 737 billion per year from now until 2050. CNOs have a key role to play in designing investment funds able to mobilise capital to transform companies’ activities, rather than merely offsetting harmful business models.
Investing in nature-based solutions and practices – such as restoring mangrove swamps and coral reefs, creating protected marine areas, and implementing policies including sustainable fishing and tourism – show how our economy can outperform extractive activities both ecologically and economically over the medium term, if we put nature at its heart.
We are not entering an era of change, but a change of era
Nature as a source of value
We are not entering an era of change, but a change of era. Nature is the cornerstone that allows all other assets to function. The challenge for CNOs is to help the financial sector understand that nature is not just an asset class or a “resource”, but the basic infrastructure that enables our economy to function.
We have to understand, value and invest in nature to transform our economy, rather than just make up for its failures. We need an economy based on nature – because we, ourselves, form an integral part of it.
This is a marketing communication issued by Bank Lombard Odier & Co Ltd (hereinafter “Lombard Odier”).
It is not intended for distribution, publication, or use in any jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, or use would be unlawful, nor is it aimed at any person or entity to whom it would be unlawful to address such a marketing communication.
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