Soil quality is declining, freshwater sources are being exploited unsustainably, the world’s forests continue to be cleared, and our climate is changing rapidly, affecting millions of people globally. Reducing our fossil fuel consumption and “greening” our physical infrastructure won’t be enough to restore our natural environment and combat climate change. More than 30% of the targets set in the Paris Accord will need to come from changes to the way we farm and the way we manage land, forestry and oceans.

Thankfully, the market for terrestrial ecosystem services (the benefits that people obtain from nature) has been growing and is poised to grow quickly as a result of the rapid proliferation of net-zero carbon commitments. Funding large-scale conservation objectives is becoming much more feasible thanks to instruments such as limited development, mitigation initiatives and the monetisation of assets such as carbon, which are providing investors with an economic incentive an...

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