Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Value wild animals’ carbon services to fill the biodiversity financing gap

Nature Climate Change volume 12, pages 598–601 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Incorporating the carbon services of wild animals into financial markets has the potential to benefit both climate and conservation through the development of carbon offsets that are equitable and nature positive. However, for this paradigm to be successful, many challenges regarding science, finance and law still need to be overcome.

Human-induced climate change and widespread biodiversity loss have been globally recognized as threats to the long-term sustainability of nature and our world. Increased evidence suggests that these two threats are highly intertwined and should be tackled jointly1. The Nature-based Solutions (NBS) framework proposes to do so through the restoration and protection of ecosystems while improving socioeconomic conditions. However, the focus of NBS on habitats as a whole (forests, wetlands and so on), and not on the individual components of biodiversity, may miss an opportunity to attract those best able to fund these solutions: private investors.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Overview of the main components, processes and stakeholders involved in bridging the biodiversity financing gap.

References

  1. Pettorelli, N. et al. J. Appl. Ecol. 58, 2384–2393 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. CBD High-Level Panel Resourcing the Aichi Biodiversity Targets: An Assessment of Benefits, Investments and Resource Needs for Implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2014).

  3. Schmitz, O. J. et al. Science 362, eaar3213 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Krause, T. & Nielsen, M. R. Forests 10, 344 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jørgensen, D. BioScience 63, 719–720 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Berzaghi, F., Chami, R., Cosimano, T. & Fullenkamp, C. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 119, e2120426119 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. van Duuren, E., Plantinga, A. & Scholtens, B. J. Bus. Ethics 138, 525–533 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Broadstock, D. C., Chan, K., Cheng, L. T. W. & Wang, X. Finance Res. Lett. 38, 101716 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Joos, F., Meyer, R., Bruno, M. & Leuenberger, M. Geophys. Res. Lett. 26, 1437–1440 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Wang, F. et al. Biol. Conserv. 253, 108913 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Sullivan, S. Antipode 45, 198–217 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Kamilaris, A., Cole, I. R. & Prenafeta-Boldú, F. X., in Food Technology Disruptions (ed. Galanakis, C. M.) 247–284 (Academic Press, 2021).

  13. O’Donnell, E. & Talbot-Jones, J. Ecol. Soc. 23, 7 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Anderson, K. & Peters, G. Science 354, 182–183 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Berzaghi, F. et al. Nat. Geosci. 12, 725–729 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Mariani, G. et al. Sci. Adv. 6, eabb4848 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Martin, A. H., Pearson, H. C., Saba, G. K. & Olsen, E. M. One Earth 4, 680–693 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Durfort, A., Mariani, G., Troussellier, M., Tulloch, V. & Mouillot, D. Preprint at Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-92037/v1 (2021).

  19. Norris, K., Terry, A., Hansford, J. P. & Turvey, S. T. Trends Ecol. Evol. 35, 919–926 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Berzaghi, F. et al. Ecography 41, 1934–1954 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank D. Nieburg for the useful feedback. F.B. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant number 845265 and by the French government ARE programme.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE) — UMR CEA/CNRS/UVSQ, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Fabio Berzaghi

  2. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Thomas Cosimano

  3. Duke University Department of Economics, Durham, NC, USA

    Connel Fullenkamp

  4. Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation, London, UK

    John Scanlon

  5. Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, Hong Kong, China

    John Scanlon

  6. Government Challenge Fund, London, UK

    John Scanlon

  7. Science For Life Foundation, Bamenda, Cameroon

    Tata Elvis Fon

  8. Cameroon Wildlife Protection and Regeneration Society, Mouanko, Cameroon

    Michele Tunga Robson

  9. Ministry of Justice, Government of Cameroon, Buea, Cameroon

    Justice Leslie Forbang

  10. The International Monetary Fund, Washington DC, USA

    Ralph Chami

Authors
  1. Fabio Berzaghi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas Cosimano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Connel Fullenkamp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. John Scanlon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tata Elvis Fon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Michele Tunga Robson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Justice Leslie Forbang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Ralph Chami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fabio Berzaghi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

R.C., C.F. and T.C. are co-founders of Blue Green Future. M.T.R. is a co-founder of Blue Green World. F.B. is an unpaid advisor of Blue Green Future and Rebalance Earth. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Berzaghi, F., Cosimano, T., Fullenkamp, C. et al. Value wild animals’ carbon services to fill the biodiversity financing gap. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 598–601 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01407-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01407-4

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing