Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Off the charts? : Reasons to be skeptical of the growth in biodiversity finance

Christiansen, Jens LU ; Irvine-Broque, Audrey ; Dempsey, Jessica ; Nelson, Sara ; Shapiro-Garza, Elizabeth ; Bigger, Patrick and Islar, Mine LU orcid (2025) In Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 75.
Abstract
Recent estimates point to dramatic increases in private capital flowing to biodiversity. Examining main sources of this increase — equity investments and debt — this review asks how biodiversity finance is being calculated, and whether private capital flowing to biodiversity action is growing as much as reported. Furthermore, by examining the literature on the standards and metrics, we ask whether these increases are likely to facilitate biodiverse outcomes. Ultimately, some growth can be ascribed to conceptual innovations in measuring biodiversity-related finance. In several cases, the dollar value represented in nominally biodiversity-related transactions does not reflect actual amounts spent on biodiversity. This review points to a risk... (More)
Recent estimates point to dramatic increases in private capital flowing to biodiversity. Examining main sources of this increase — equity investments and debt — this review asks how biodiversity finance is being calculated, and whether private capital flowing to biodiversity action is growing as much as reported. Furthermore, by examining the literature on the standards and metrics, we ask whether these increases are likely to facilitate biodiverse outcomes. Ultimately, some growth can be ascribed to conceptual innovations in measuring biodiversity-related finance. In several cases, the dollar value represented in nominally biodiversity-related transactions does not reflect actual amounts spent on biodiversity. This review points to a risk of overestimating private financing of biodiversity targets, which may generate overconfidence in this approach. Consequently, this review argues that optimism for private capital solutions should be tempered and accompanied by an upscaling of policy alternatives and regulations that address the financial drivers of biodiversity loss. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
volume
75
article number
101544
publisher
Elsevier
ISSN
1877-3443
DOI
10.1016/j.cosust.2025.101544
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a26b9de0-d86e-4313-9d9b-968bd6a1b568
date added to LUP
2025-09-01 14:11:55
date last changed
2025-09-02 07:59:47
@article{a26b9de0-d86e-4313-9d9b-968bd6a1b568,
  abstract     = {{Recent estimates point to dramatic increases in private capital flowing to biodiversity. Examining main sources of this increase — equity investments and debt — this review asks how biodiversity finance is being calculated, and whether private capital flowing to biodiversity action is growing as much as reported. Furthermore, by examining the literature on the standards and metrics, we ask whether these increases are likely to facilitate biodiverse outcomes. Ultimately, some growth can be ascribed to conceptual innovations in measuring biodiversity-related finance. In several cases, the dollar value represented in nominally biodiversity-related transactions does not reflect actual amounts spent on biodiversity. This review points to a risk of overestimating private financing of biodiversity targets, which may generate overconfidence in this approach. Consequently, this review argues that optimism for private capital solutions should be tempered and accompanied by an upscaling of policy alternatives and regulations that address the financial drivers of biodiversity loss.}},
  author       = {{Christiansen, Jens and Irvine-Broque, Audrey and Dempsey, Jessica and Nelson, Sara and Shapiro-Garza, Elizabeth and Bigger, Patrick and Islar, Mine}},
  issn         = {{1877-3443}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability}},
  title        = {{Off the charts? : Reasons to be skeptical of the growth in biodiversity finance}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2025.101544}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cosust.2025.101544}},
  volume       = {{75}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}