While businesses are feeling the adverse impacts of nature loss, they are also beginning to recognise the opportunities a nature-positive economy can offer. From precision agriculture to battery recycling to bio-based materials, new ways of doing business are delivering both long-term resilience and short-term gains. Financial institutions are also realising the green economy can compete on returns. This report highlights 50+ investible opportunities already generating cost-savings or revenues for businesses across the real economy.
Corporate and finance leaders are transforming their operations because it makes good business sense to do so. In 2024, the green economy accounted for ~$8 trillion in listed equity market value and has outperformed global equities by ~59% since 2008. Yet the private sector still invests ~$5 trillion annually in activities that harm nature, despite research showing more than half global GDP depends on the services nature provides.
The 50+ investible opportunities presented in this report can help swing the pendulum. Spanning 13 critical sectors selected for their impacts and dependencies on nature, they deliver economic returns as well as climate mitigation, job creation and resilience-building. As they scale up, these opportunities have the potential to move from isolated interventions to industry-shaping transitions.
New analysis in this report builds on several years of collaboration between the World Economic Forum and Oliver Wyman on the Nature Positive Transitions series. The main report is accompanied by two additional documents:
CEO Primer: Overview of high-level findings and the 50+ investible opportunities, tailored for senior executives across corporate sectors and financial institutions.
Supplementary Appendix: Detailed, sector-by-sector analysis of each opportunity, including financial instruments, impacts on nature and business cases.