How Efficient Metrics and Expansive Incentives Can Scale Corporate Contributions to Nature

This briefing by the World Resources Institute argues that the $700 billion annual biodiversity finance gap can be addressed by complementing complex, resource-intensive reporting frameworks with simpler, cost-effective metrics—specifically hectare-based measurements—to incentivize broader private sector contributions to nature conservation and restoration.

• There is a significant gap in biodiversity funding, with a total annual need of $700 billion. While public funding provides between $124 billion and $143 billion, private sector contributions are much lower at $35 billion.
• Current corporate nature reporting is fragmented and overly complex, with the Taskforce on Nature Financial Disclosures (TNFD) noting that companies utilize over 3,000 different metrics to describe nature-related outcomes, which hinders comparability and peer differentiation.
• Existing nature frameworks—including the TNFD, Natural Capital Protocol, and Science-Based Targets Network—are often too time- and resource-intensive, creating high barriers to entry that discourage many companies from participating in conservation and restoration.
• The document proposes using hectare-based metrics as a foundational, simplified tool for tracking corporate contributions. Such metrics are transparent, can be independently verified via satellite imagery, and avoid complexities associated with forest carbon credits like permanence and additionality.
• Several existing initiatives already utilize hectare-based metrics, including the Consumer Goods Forum Landscape Reporting Framework, The Nature Conservancy’s green bond framework, the UK government’s Sustainable Farming Incentives (paying farmers 20 pounds per hectare), and Brazil’s Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF), which aims to raise $250 billion.
• Corporate focus on individual supply chain activities often leads to fragmented initiatives. The document argues that collective landscape-level action is necessary to protect critical ecological areas such as forests, peat domes, and water basins.

APA

World Resources Institute (2024). How Efficient Metrics and Expansive Incentives Can Scale Corporate Contributions to Nature. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/metrics-incentives-corporate-contributions-nature

Chicago

World Resources Institute. How Efficient Metrics and Expansive Incentives Can Scale Corporate Contributions to Nature. 2024. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/metrics-incentives-corporate-contributions-nature.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=How Efficient Metrics and Expansive Incentives Can Scale Corporate Contributions to Nature |date=16 October 2024 |url=https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/metrics-incentives-corporate-contributions-nature |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2024how, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{How Efficient Metrics and Expansive Incentives Can Scale Corporate Contributions to Nature}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/metrics-incentives-corporate-contributions-nature}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }