Investing in natural capital

Natural capital underpins livelihoods and the well-being of people all over the world.

The earth’s natural capital can be thought of as a stock of assets—air, land and water and their biodiversity— that yields a flow of benefits or ecosystem services over time. The flow of these benefits includes provisioning services such as food, fiber and timber as well as a broad range of regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services that drive the global economy and human well-being.

Past economic development has degraded natural assets, severely impacting nature’s capacity to support society and future prosperity. Investments in natural capital offer pathways for investors to contribute positively to global sustainability solutions, improve climate resiliency and restore the earth’s air, land and water and their biodiversity. Beyond natural capital benefits, investments in sustainably managed timberland and farmland offer positive financial returns benefiting from structural tailwinds and strong market fundamentals. Private finance is critical in the shift toward more sustainable land use patterns that are urgently needed to restore nature’s capacity to support the well-being and livelihoods of people all over the world.

Topics discussed

• What is natural capital and why it matters
• Private finance’s role in helping shift unsustainable land use patterns towards environmentally friendly outcomes
• Structural trends and industry tailwinds supporting the case for natural capital
• Portfolio-level benefits of timberland and farmland investments
• Enhancing land-based real asset portfolios with exposure carbon and eco-system services
• Nuveen Natural Capital’s holistic management approach and how we provide investors with solutions to the sustainability challenges that face our climate, nature and people