From Fortune · Marcene Mitchell · · 3m
Climate Week's real test: can we fund nature?
As public budgets tighten, the World Wildlife Fund argues climate action needs smarter financing, not just more money.
In brief
As public budgets tighten, the World Wildlife Fund argues climate action needs smarter financing, not just more money. Public money for nature is drying up. The solution isn't asking for more funding, but using limited dollars to attract private investment through leverage, durability, and insurance partnerships…
Climate Week's uncomfortable question
Over 100,000 people gather in New York for Climate Week, yet the last 11 years were the warmest on record and 2024 crossed 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
Progress is real, but incomplete
When Paris was adopted in 2015, the world faced 3 to 3.5 degrees of warming. Today, existing policies put us on a 2.8-degree path, with full pledges bringing it to 2.3 to 2.5 degrees.
Nature is the missing piece
Forests, wetlands and mangroves store carbon, buffer storms and stabilize soils. Oceans alone absorb 30% of climate emissions yearly, yet nature receives the least funding in climate action.
“Nature is climate infrastructure. It is also the least-funded part of the system.”
Public money is running dry
Government funding for nature has supplied roughly 80% of finance since 2010. Private investment reached $14 billion in 2025, but global goals require $570 billion annually by 2030.
The leverage solution
Public dollars should absorb risks that private investors won't, preparing projects for investment. One public dollar can then pull multiple private dollars into deals.
Tropical Forest Forever Facility model
Launched at COP30, this fund combines $25 billion in government capital with up to $100 billion from institutional investors. One public dollar could mobilize roughly four private dollars for forest conservation.
Endowment model ensures durability
Traditional grants run out and expose long-term investments to political cycles. The TFFF borrows from university endowments: invest capital, spend returns, preserve the fund to generate income indefinitely.
Insurance as prevention partner
Natural disasters caused $220 billion in damages in 2025, with roughly half uninsured. Resilience investments yield up to $10 in benefits for every dollar spent.
Mangroves protect insurability
Two coastlines hit by the same storm generate different insurance claims if one has natural protections like mangroves. Insurers should help quantify the financial value of resilience measures.
Measure Climate Week by results
Success shouldn't be counted by attendance or panel numbers, but whether people controlling capital leave with better ways to turn commitments into measurable investment outcomes.
Scarcity demands smarter spending
With public budgets tightening, limited dollars must work harder by attracting private capital wherever credible revenue or savings exist. Scarcity should force smarter spending, not smaller thinking.
“Scarcity should force us to spend smarter, not think smaller.”
The takeaway
Public money for nature is drying up. The solution isn't asking for more funding, but using limited dollars to attract private investment through leverage, durability, and insurance partnerships.
