Understanding Nature’s ROI: Case Studies of Nature-Related Opportunities in Action

Nature underpins economic activity, yet investment in nature-related opportunities remains under-recognised and under-valued in mainstream business practice. Private-sector investment in nature-based solutions was just US$23 billion in 2023, less than 0.5% of the private capital flowing into nature-negative activities. This imbalance reflects a lack of understanding in the business community regarding the ways in which all commercial activity depends on nature, with sustainability teams often struggling to show how action on nature can deliver tangible commercial returns.

This paper, a collaboration between Natcap and Earth Capital Nexus, draws on practitioner interviews and desktop research to show how leading companies have captured commercial benefits from nature-related opportunities and, importantly, how they built the business case for action. It presents case studies of five companies across utilities, food and beverage, consumer goods and consumer discretionary:

• Natura: a sourcing strategy built around regenerative production of Amazonian bio-ingredients and palm oil agroforestry, which delivered higher oil content yields and lower fertilisation costs than monoculture and secured approximately US$258 million in additional innovative financing.
• United Utilities: investment in peatland and wider habitat restoration in water abstraction catchments, which safeguards a large proportion of the company’s £1.8 billion of annual regional water supply revenue and could avoid tens of millions of pounds in storm-damage costs, at a project cost of less than 0.5% of overall revenue.
• Mars: a US$1 billion, ten-year commitment to its Cocoa for Generations strategy, supporting deforestation- and conversion-free sourcing, agroforestry and climate-smart agriculture to build resilience for a cocoa-dependent business. The strategy protects its ‘Snacking’ business line that accounts for 39% of sales.
• Coca-Cola Europacific Partners: watershed conservation and water replenishment across 11 countries, which protects key ingredients in supply chains, mitigates up to €64 million in annualised impact based on operating profit, and has returned more than 105% of the water volume used in finished drinks back to nature.
• Bosch: a circular redesign of wiper blade packaging that eliminated all plastic, halved packaging waste and cut product carbon footprint by 24%, at no additional cost beyond R&D.

Business resilience emerged as a significant driver of action across the cases. The paper draws out lessons for businesses looking to build the internal case for investment, including anchoring opportunities in core business impacts and dependencies, securing leadership support and co-investment, integrating with existing budgets and decision-making processes, acting on directional evidence rather than waiting for perfect data, and evaluating returns over longer time horizons. An annexe sets out a framework to help companies build a business case for investment in nature-related opportunities.