Skip to main content
Home

GEF Logo

GEF Logo

Search
  • Who We Are

    Organization

    • Overview
    • CEO and Chairperson
    • Focal Points
    • Secretariat Staff

    GEF Council

    • Members & Alternates
    • Work Programs
    • Meetings
    • Decisions

    Funding

    • Overview
    • GEF-9
    • GEF-8
    • GEF-7
    • Replenishment Documents
    • Overview
    • CEO and Chairperson
    • Focal Points
    • Secretariat Staff
  • What We Do

    Topics

    Topics

    • Amazon
    • Biodiversity
    • Blended Finance
    • Chemicals and Waste
    • Food Security
    • Forests
    • Global Biodiversity Framework Fund
    • Illegal Wildlife Trade
    • Integrated Programs
    • International Waters
    • Land Degradation
    • LDCF
    • Mercury
    • SCCF
    • Sustainable Cities
    • Transparency
    • View All Topics >>

    Stakeholder Engagement

    Stakeholder Engagement

    • Civil Society Organizations
    • Country Engagement Strategy
    • Fonseca Leadership Program
    • GEF Voices
    • Indigenous Peoples
    • Knowledge & Learning
    • Private Sector
    • Youth
  • Projects & Operations

    Projects

    Projects

    • Project Database
    • Templates
    • How Projects Work

    Countries

    Countries

    • Recipient Countries
    • Donor Countries
    • Participant Countries
    • Country Support Program

    Operations

    Operations

    • Conflict Resolution Commissioner
    • GEF Geospatial Platform
    • Knowledge & Learning
    • Policies and Guidelines
    • Results
  • Partners

    Partners

    • Countries
    • GEF Agencies
    • Conventions
    • Civil Society Organizations
    • Private Sector
    • Countries
    • GEF Agencies
    • Conventions
    • Civil Society Organizations
    • Private Sector
  • Newsroom

    Newsroom Menu Column 1

    • All
    • News
    • Feature Stories
    • Press Releases
    • Multimedia
    • Publications
    • Blog

    Newsroom Menu Column 2

    • GEF Logo
    • Partner News
    • Newsletter
    • Media Contacts
    • All
    • News
    • Feature Stories
    • Press Releases
    • Multimedia
    • Publications
    • Blog
  • Events
  • Search

Investing in nature makes more sense than ever

Blog
July 31, 2020
Image
naoko-profile.jpg
Naoko Ishii
Former GEF CEO and Chairperson
Image
Portrait of GEF CEO Carlos Manuel Rodriguez
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez
CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility
Suspended walking bridge in Costa Rica rainforest
Photo credit: Dmitry Burlakov/Shutterstock

It is not easy to plan for the future during a pandemic or a recession. But this is 2020, and governments and businesses are working hard to navigate both challenges at once.

As they do so, it is incredibly important they cast aside the notion that the environment is a tangential concern.

The coronavirus outbreak that shut down most of the world is a zoonotic disease that jumped from wildlife to people, a symptom of growing conflict between human and natural systems.

If there is one lesson from COVID-19, it is that we can no longer manage environmental and economic pressures separately.

The truth is that more than half of the global economy directly depends on nature – a functioning biosphere and healthy global commons form the foundation of all well-being. People cannot prosper on a sick planet.

And yet, as the Campaign for Nature has noted, the world currently spends more on video games annually than it invests in protecting nature. Governments are allocating far more to subsidize activities that harm the planet than to activities to sustain it. Even under lockdown, the world is extracting natural resources at a rate greater than can be replenished. 

We know from science that we need to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030 to stop biodiversity loss, and we need to limit global warming to 1.5°C to keep the planet habitable. We also know that we have a short time frame to transform the way we live to the degree that is needed – and knowing where to begin can be difficult in the midst of crisis.  

The good news is that there is a strong economic rationale for making this shift. The benefits of investing in protecting nature outweigh the costs at least fivefold, with dividends including flood protection, clean water provision, soil conservation and avoided carbon emissions. Additional protections are expected to lead to an average of $250 billion in increased economic output and $350 billion in improved ecosystem services annually.

We have the tools to achieve a green recovery, including through the transformation of perverse “business-as-usual” incentives into positive ones. These include shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy; from deforestation to sustainable forest management; and from a take-make-waste industrial model to one that better manages our resources for society-wide benefits.

This kind of change is eminently possible – it has been done before. In Costa Rica in the 1970s, owning forests was taxed and people were highly incentivized to use their land for commercial purposes, such as cattle farming or lumber. Today, through a program of payments for ecosystem services, supported by the Global Environment Facility, landowners are compensated for leaving forests untouched, supporting carbon sequestration, wildlife corridors, and ecotourism alike.

Providing similar incentives, when they have broad support, could also transform the world’s agriculture, fishery, and forestry industries to reduce environmental pressures at their root causes; shift unsustainable patterns of production and consumption to reduce waste; and support the continued evolution towards renewable energy, electric vehicles, and green cities.

As economies shake off the coronavirus, we have an opportunity to ease pressure on the planet and reduce the enormous risks that climate change and biodiversity loss represent to our future. 

It is a tall order – but the scale of our environmental challenges should not deter near-term action that can make our world stronger, healthier, and fairer in the long term. 

The state of the world can be overwhelming, and those seeking to navigate a way out of today’s challenges have an uphill climb ahead. But by widening the scope of recovery planning to address environmental challenges instead of compartmentalizing them, we will all be on a stronger footing.

Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF, was formerly Deputy Finance Minister in Japan. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, the Costa Rican Environment and Energy Minister, will start his first term as GEF CEO and Chairperson in September 2020.

This piece was originally published for the GEF-Telegraph Partnership.

Topics
Safeguarding the Global Commons
Forests
Countries
Costa Rica
Related Content

'We need to put nature at the center of economic activity'

News / July 17, 2020

To build a resilient world, we must go circular. Here's how to do it

Blog / July 7, 2020

'We need to work together and follow the science'

News / April 14, 2020

GEF CEO: 'We need to protect our one common home'

News / April 9, 2020
View All News

Related News

Panoramic shot of rainforest and water (Gamboa Rainforest Reserve in Panama)
Blog

Engaging scientists and experts to build momentum for the protection of tropical primary forests

November 13, 2024
People speaking at a panel event
Feature Story

Diverse partners convene at COFO 27 to discuss innovative pathways towards forest landscape restoration

August 6, 2024
Person measuring tree in a forest, Viet Nam
Blog

Unlocking climate action – the power of forest data transparency

June 11, 2024

GEF Updates

Subscribe to our distribution list to receive the GEF Newsletter.

Sign up

GEF Logo

Follow Us

GEF Affiliated Sites

  • GEF Portal
  • Independent Evaluation Office
  • Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel
  • Small Grants Programme

Who We Are

  • GEF Secretariat Staff
  • Conflict Resolution Commissioner
  • Council Members & Alternates
  • Focal Points
  • Careers
  • Legal
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Global Environment Facility, All Rights Reserved.  |   Legal