Nature-Based Solutions: The Next Infrastructure Asset Class?

From Conservation to Contracted Cashflows

Nature-based solutions ("NbS")—interventions that protect, restore, or sustainably manage natural ecosystems to deliver measurable environmental and societal outcomes—have historically struggled to attract institutional capital at scale. Developers of NbS have tended to rely on government grants, philanthropic capital, and corporate ESG budgets. While these funding pools remain important, they can result in small project sizes, unpredictable revenue streams, and long development cycles. That is changing. Driven by mandatory regulatory regimes, the maturation of environmental markets, and growing recognition that "green" infrastructure is needed to deliver climate and biodiversity targets sustainably, NbS are increasingly being structured and financed in ways that bear closer comparison to conventional infrastructure, drawing the attention of institutional capital into the sector.