A Year in Review: 2021 in Five Trends

Despite some indications of a global slowdown in recent decades, deforestation rates remain high—and it’s the very “lungs of the planet” that continue to face sharp decline: old-growth tropical forests. Currently, the biggest drivers of deforestation are food systems, various stakeholders are betting that this doesn’t have to be the case. At COP26, 141 countries committed to halting and reversing deforestation by 2030, with a $3 billion initiative to advance innovative finance for deforestation-free farming in South America leading the way for countries to make good on their promises. It’s not the first time countries have agreed to address global deforestation, but the dedication of funding from the outset this time around could boost chances of success.

DIG DEEPER: See how new research on food could be good for forests, too.

Also at COP26, nearly 200 countries reached a final deal on carbon markets. This much-anticipated deal could help generate new finance streams for forest and wetland protection, as well as transitions to clean energy. That’s big progress on the foundation laid by the 2015 Paris Agreement—and even though carbon markets are just one of the tools to help mitigate climate change, they could accelerate nature’s solutions to global climate action if designed effectively. Now, it’s up to voluntary action by the public and private sectors to capitalize on this mechanism.

LEARN MORE: Scroll through this illustrated guide to carbon offsets.

Healthy ecosystems are our source of respite, nourishment, medicine—everything humanity needs to survive. But in exploiting them, we open ourselves to incalculable risk: for instance, TNC scientists recently discovered that mammals common to the wildlife trade carry 75% of the 226 viruses known to be transmissible between humans and animals. Fortunately, a growing number of global leaders seem to recognize that nature’s fate and ours are one in the same, with the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranking environmental degradation as one of the most significant long-term threats to human well-being in its annual Global Risks Report for the past two years, and the World Health Organization (WHO) urging a green recovery to support human health.

REFLECT: TNC’s Lynn Scarlett shares how protecting nature can help ensure clean air, safe water and food for the future.

In the past few years, hundreds of scientists around the world have shown us nature is in trouble—and in 2021, more than 90 countries responded by committing to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 through the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature. But in doing so, many have also recognized the need for a “whole-society” approach that enables community leadership, especially that of the Indigenous Peoples who steward much of Earth’s remaining biodiversity. Despite some encouraging promises—including $1.7 billion to advance Indigenous land rights around the world announced at COP26—the failure of past pledges is a reminder that we must follow through with action plans and accountability to truly deliver for the planet through authentic partnership.

EXPLORE SOLUTIONS: See 5 key strategies for scalable conservation—and 14 communities leading the way.

While some of the most prominent finance leaders recognize that net zero is the future, far fewer have taken action for a nature-positive economy. In 2019, the world spent an estimated $130 billion annually on activities that benefit nature, which represented almost triple 2012’s funding—but nowhere close to the approximately $770 billion needed each year to reverse the biodiversity decline by 2030.

This year, there were signs of positive momentum, with G7 leaders affirming that “our world must not only become net zero, but also nature positive.” A newly launched taskforce made up of more than 200 financial institutions, governments, and corporates evolved out of a 2020 mandate to “shift global financial flows away from nature-negative outcomes and toward nature-positive outcomes.” Other national efforts also stand to help redefine finance in nature’s favor, including a recent U.S. infrastructure bill with some $76 billion in green funding and Belize’s commitment to the biggest-ever debt conversion for ocean conservation.

QUICK GUIDE: Check out this blueprint for biodiversity compensation.