2023-Public-Sector-Perspectives

Nature loss does not only have environmental consequences but also destabilizes society with significant economic fallout. For example, in 2020, 30.7 million people were internally displaced by natural disasters, which is more than three times as many people that were displaced by human conflict and violence. To make matters worse, marginalized, poor and youth populations contributing the least to climate change and nature degradation are those affected the most. Forests, being a major storehouse of biodiversity, also provide huge services to all of humanity. Almost 25% of the global population, many of them in vulnerable groups, depends on forests for their livelihoods and around 1.6 billion people live within 5km of the forests worldwide, 71% of them in low-and-middle- income countries. The Congo Basin alone provides food, medicine, water, materials and shelter for over 75 million people. In addition, the relationship between climate change and economic development is intertwined, 52% of agricultural land is already degraded, costing the world $400 billion per year in lost productivity. It is predicted that land degradation could reduce global food productivity by 12%, increasing food prices by 30% over the next 25 years. Unfortunately, Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change. While African countries contribute only 3.8% to global greenhouse gas emissions, they remain significantly vulnerable to the devastating economic effects of this phenomenon. In the cases of a 1.5°C and 2°C temperature increase, the African continent comprises many, if not most, of the countries that will suffer the most in terms of growth of GDP per capita (Figure 2). While developing countries are disproportionally affected by climate change, leveraging new and affordable innovations can usher them onto a greener growth path. For example, even though more than half of the world’s GDP ($44 trillion) is at immediate risk due to nature loss, stalling this loss and making investments with nature positive outcomes can create new business opportunities to the scale of $10 trillion annually and create 395 million jobs by 2030. Furthermore, investments in ecosystem restoration provide on average 3.7 times as many jobs as oil and gas production investments. Investing in nature and nature-based solutions is therefore not only an imperative for sustainable growth but also presents immense opportunities for emerging economies. Yet, despite the strong economic case and the increasing number of financing commitments and opportunities, the investment gap remains large. Figure 2: Projected growth impact and projected level impact Source: Pretis, Schwarz, Tang, Haustein, & Allen (2018) Phil Trans. R. Soc. A. doi: 10.1098/rsta/.2016.0460 Citi Perspectives for the Public Sector 79