Nature and the economy

Concluded project July 2022 – August 2024

Without nature, there is no economy. Nature is capital that must be managed sustainably. There are solutions!

What was it about?

Nature constantly provides us with a huge range of vital resources such as food, energy and medicinal plants, as well as services such as water purification, carbon sequestration, pollination of food crops and opportunities for recreation. In economic terms, the resources and services provided by nature are known as natural capital.

The value of nature in monetary terms is enormous. The consulting firm BCG has estimated (pdf) that the total value of ecosystem services alone exceeds USD 150,000,000,000,000 per year, which is twice the world’s GDP.

But we are consuming natural capital faster than it regenerates. This threatens not only nature but also the vital services we obtain from nature. We can still reverse this trend: we can stop biodiversity loss and curb the climate crisis.

The key to change is the sustainable management of natural capital. In practice, the value of nature must be made visible, and it must guide economic decision-making at state level, local government, and business level and in people’s everyday lives. This entails, for example, rewarding actions that strengthen nature and putting a price on measures that degrade it.

The sustainable management of natural capital requires that the ecological sustainability crisis is solved as a whole. This is why all the Nature and the Economy project activities aimed at taking into account of biodiversity loss, the climate crisis and overconsumption of natural resources.

What did we do?

We sought the most effective solutions for the management of natural capital in decision-making by national and local government and businesses. During the project, for example:

We developed methods and tools to make the value of nature and the limits of its carrying capacity more clearly visible to decision-makers.
We identified the best economic instruments for halting biodiversity loss and curbing the climate crisis, in other words for safeguarding natural capital.
In collaboration with businesses, we tested and developed indicators for measuring the impacts of business activities on nature and new business models that reduced pressures on nature and strengthened biodiversity.
We brought together actors with the latest knowledge and practical experience of the sustainable management of natural capital. We looked for a common vision and new, viable solutions.

Finland did not start from scratch when it came to safeguarding natural capital: understanding of the severity of the situation was already increasing. For example, in a collection of articles published in early spring 2023, key influencers in economics and society stressed that nature safeguards our well-being, health and economy.

Who was involved?

We worked with policy makers, government, pioneering companies, industry associations, local authorities and research institutes and others. The aim was to find solutions that are also of international interest.