A methodology to evaluate where safeguarding natural capital could have the biggest impact on climate, economies and health.
Valuing nature conservation
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Download the full report
Bringing conservation into focus
Understanding the business case for nature conservation can be difficult.
Decisions about expanding conservation require a detailed analysis of the many co-benefits of nature and the balance between opportunity and cost.
Our new report maps areas where nature appears to have particularly high value and analyzes some of the co-benefits and costs that could result from conservation of these areas. These additional prioritized areas would effectively double the current conservation of land and national waters to 30% of the planet—a proposed UN target used as a reference point for this analysis.
2. Results
5km
5km
Human activity
Species habitats
Carbon stocks
We divided the global land area into
5x5 km pixels.
Thousands of data layers for each pixel including:
In all, we analyzed around six million “pixels” of the earth’s surface.
Expanding conservation is both a global and local consideration. To support decision makers, we evaluated the value of nature conservation at a hyperlocal scale.
²Map shown is for one of six conservation scenarios developed for the analysis.
Existing protected areas¹
1. Analyses
We have quantified a subset of the potential benefits of doubling nature conservation on land and in national waters by 2030.
Climate, economic, health and cultural benefits could be compelling
2.6 gigatons
Reduce atmospheric CO₂ by up to
annually
650,000
Create up to
jobs in nature conservation
$500 billion
Support around 30 million jobs and
of GDP in ecotourism and sustainable fishing
Taking action
Expanding the conservation of natural capital globally would require concerted action, with different considerations for each stakeholder group.
1.
Private sector
Understand the increasing risks from the loss of natural capital and identify conservation investments to help to mitigate these risks.
Where could natural capital provide the most value in reducing physical-asset risk?
What role should insurers play to better transfer and mitigate risk?
2.
National governments
Understand the investment case for expansion of nature conservation.
Where does the erosion of natural capital put populations or livelihoods at risk?
Where can conservation of nature help to maximize net benefits, accounting for opportunity costs?
What is needed for these benefits to flow to underserved and Indigenous communities living in or near new conservation areas?
3.
Intergovernmental organizations
Use analytical methodologies to inform potential conservation targets.
What standards could be in place to help analyze and account for the co-benefits of natural capital?
Where would conservation require transnational effort and financing, and which frameworks can help?
4.
Conservation practitioners and donors
Consider forming cross-stakeholder alliances to pool resources and expertise, potentially taking the role of a “project accelerator.”
Where are the highest-impact opportunities to deploy philanthropic resources?
How can the donor and practitioner community work together with public and private sector to expand conservation efforts?
What conservation targets are required to stop the erosion of natural capital and maximize nature's co-benefits?
An integrated understanding of the benefits and costs of conserving natural capital—and the risks of not doing so—represent an important step toward capturing the full value of nature. This report aims to contribute to that journey.
Dive deeper
Download the full report
Download the full report
2.8×
Expand the conserved habitat of threatened species by up to
COVID-19
Help reduce the risk of zoonotic diseases such as
Many of the benefits of conservation could potentially flow to underserved and Indigenous communities. As stewards of 37% of all remaining natural land, Indigenous Peoples are a critically important stakeholder in conservation decisions.
How can investments in natural capital be amplified through cross-sector collaboration methodologies such as the Jurisdictional Approach or Project Finance for Permanence?
30km
30km
Human activity
Species habitats
Thousands of data layers for each pixel including:
We divided the global marine area into
30x30 km pixels.
Show/hide potential additional conservation priorities
Potential additional conservation priorites²
See what this might look like:
[1]
“Co-benefits” describe the positive impacts of natural capital conservation for people, which we capture under “Climate-change mitigation and resilience,” “Economic security and opportunity,” and “Health and culture.”
[2]
Natural capital is the planet’s stock of natural assets—its biodiversity, air, soil, and water, as well as other natural resources.
Watch Associate Partner Duko Hopman discuss the findings.
¹Protected Area data downloaded from the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) (http://www.ibat-alliance.org). Provided by BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC. Please contact ibat@ibat-alliance.org for further information.
Technical appendix
Technical appendix