Nature takes the stage at global climate negotiations

While the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP30, did not meet hopes for producing a solid plan for eliminating fossil fuels, the COP nonetheless represented a step forward for global conversations about climate change: they are finally addressing nature itself as a key facet of this global challenge. 

Three scientists from the Stanford-based Natural Capital Project (NatCap) participated in numerous panels and side meetings during the 12-day summit hosted by Brazil, and one from University of Minnesota-based NatCap. Throughout the event, the scholars said they frequently heard other attendees describe nature as integral to the climate agenda and “the world’s greatest infrastructure.” 

This year’s COP was the first to substantially integrate conversations about nature and climate change, lifting up nature protection as a solution – and nature degradation as a driver of the problem. At the global level these conversations have historically been fairly separate; there are two other distinct global agreements and conferences: one dealing with biodiversity loss (the “nature” COP, which NatCap also attended last year) and another with land degradation and desertification. 

“For many nations, especially those with small emissions but enormous climate risk, nature is the first and often only line of defense,” said Jade Delevaux, senior fellow at NatCap and senior scientist at Seascape Solutions, who attended COP30. “When we protect and restore ecosystems, we protect people – food, water, heritage, and home. Bringing nature fully into climate negotiations acknowledges what communities on the frontlines have always known: adaptation begins with investing in caring for the land and sea that sustain us.”

Symbolically, Brazil located the COP in Belém, a city on the edge of the Amazon Rainforest. The country has reduced deforestation rates to an 11-year low, and it officially launched the Tropical Forest Forever Facility during the event. 

Brazil’s ministry of finance sent a representative to speak about the TFFF at a NatCap nature finance meeting in June.

Natural capital approaches that explicitly value nature’s benefits in decisions – pioneered by NatCap and its collaborators over the past 20 years – are now being used by global actors like international financial institutions to transform systems, including to mitigate and adapt to climate change. For example, when the value of mangroves for carbon sequestration is taken into account – and “bundled” together with their economic value to local fisheries and their value as a buffer against flooding and sea level rise – lenders, investors, and governments tend to like the return-on-investment for preserving or restoring those mangroves. Countries around the world are using these approaches to set and meet climate and nature commitments, support nature finance, and develop sustainable investment strategies.

Delevaux and NatCap senior scientist Héctor Angarita participated in a panel hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on using natural capital approaches in government and bank operations to support economic, climate, and nature goals. Delevaux and Angarita shared insights from working with IDB and a range of countries to do just this – specifically highlighting work in Belize and Colombia.

Related story, video, and case studies: Financing nature to support people – and making sure it works

“Our work in Belize focused on designing a system for monitoring and reporting on outcomes for both people and nature from investing in nature conservation,” said Delevaux. “At COP this led to conversations with key groups about how to expand country credit ratings to include Key Performance Indicators related to nature assets and benefits to people. This could be a transformative way to scale up the use of nature’s value in global financial systems, enabling more favorable lending conditions and freeing up more financing for developing country economies and ecosystems.”

Reflecting on his experience, Angarita noted that he sees many bottom-up private sector innovations and initiatives taking shape, but it remains to be seen if global commitments can align incentives correctly and avoid sending signals that might preclude or dampen those efforts. "Sectors such as energy, forestry, agriculture, drinking water, and sanitation are uniquely positioned to incorporate climate action and nature into their business models. Investments in nature provide these sectors with tangible benefits, such as climate risk mitigation, improved productivity, and greater reliability, while often generating substantial co-benefits for climate and development agendas. At COP, we saw numerous examples of innovations by these key sectors. The challenge remains in incorporating these demonstrations into general business approaches, including through appropriate, aligned incentives and policy and finance levers."  

Nfamara Dampha, center director and lead scientist of NatCapTEEMs, the University of Minnesota-based NatCap group, attended COP30 as a negotiator on behalf of his home country of The Gambia, and the Least Developed Countries coalition.  

“We saw progress in a commitment to triple financing for climate adaptation by 2035 from today’s levels, although the details leave something to be desired. The negotiations also exposed the widening gap between ambition and the means of implementation needed, thus leaving developing countries without any new concrete provisions for finance, technology transfer, or capacity-building support to take effective climate action,” reported Dampha.

“However, for the first time in the UNFCCC process, parties agreed to explicitly reference "people of African descent" in a core decision text — recognizing their role and engagement in climate action alongside Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, youth, and others. This inclusion, reflected in the Global Mutirão decision, marks an important acknowledgment of historical inequities and the need for more inclusive climate governance.”

Mengye Zhu, a Stanford-based NatCap senior scientist, participated in numerous panels and informal meetings, sharing NatCap’s work. She also coordinated a meeting with the NatCap team, Stanford Professor Chris Field (director of the Woods Institute for the Environment, of which NatCap is a part), and the Chinese climate envoy Liu Zhenmin. 

Zhu noted: “One key takeaway for me from the COP is how much the next phase of the climate agenda will depend on bringing nature directly into mitigation and resilience planning. This will require stronger international collaboration and practical ways to move science into policy and implementation. NatCap has spent decades working with research and policy communities to do exactly this – incorporating natural capital into decisions. I see this as an area where we can make an even greater contribution in the coming years.”

For more on Stanford’s presence at the event, see the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability COP30 webpage. 

NatCap Stanford is based out of the Woods Institute for the Environment within the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, and the Department of Biology within Stanford’s School of Humanities & Sciences.