Despite the pressing need for climate action, nature-based solutions—such as biodiversity initiatives—have attracted minimal investment compared to energy and transportation sectors. In 2022, only $35 billion was allocated to these solutions versus $1.46 trillion for other climate finance efforts. Just Climate, alongside funding from Microsoft and CalSTRS, is shifting focus from industrial to natural climate solutions to counter this imbalance. The fund's goal is to enhance biodiversity and reduce emissions, exploring investments like reforestation and advanced agricultural practices, along with innovative technologies for measuring biodiversity, exemplified by their investment in NatureMetrics.
When it comes to climate-related investments, the lion's share has gone to companies working in energy and transportation. Most investors overlook actual lions - that is, nature-based solutions like biodiversity tend to get short shrift in the investment world.
Just $35 billion was invested in nature-based solutions in 2022, compared with $1.46 trillion for the rest of the climate finance sector.
The new fund aims to restore nature to reverse biodiversity loss and emissions from land use. The firm cites a few examples of possible investments, including biological fertilizers and pesticides, restoration finance platforms, and technologies that verify carbon reduction and biodiversity protection.
Just Climate's first investment, made in January, led a Series B funding round in NatureMetrics. The company determines the biodiversity of a site by surveying what's known as eDNA, or environmental DNA, which is free-floating DNA found in water or soil samples.
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