This is a fully automated machine translation. The quality and accuracy of machine translation can vary from one text to another and between different language pairs. Forest Knowledge Gateway admins do not guarantee the accuracy of the translation and accept no liability for possible errors. Please refer to the original text in its original English version if there is any doubt. Some content (such as images, videos, files, HTML links and acronyms) may not be translated or may be inaccurate due to the technical limitations of the system.
Menu
bear

Funders / Investors

4. Managing Risks

_CH.jpg

Recent years have seen a sharp change in public dialogues about corporate and private investment in nature and climate solutions. Accusations of ‘green-washing’ (overstatement of the impact of investments in nature), and the erosion of global political consensus on climate change have led to a slowing of momentum in global nature investment and the emergence of ‘green-hushing’ - where engagement in nature markets is under-emphasised or hidden. Here we explore approaches to mitigate the risks of green-washing.

Greenwashing — the over-claiming of environmental benefits — is an emerging risk in Europe’s forest-restoration investment space. Nature-based finance holds enormous promise: by restoring woodlands, investors can help sequester carbon, support biodiversity, and generate sustainable returns. But not all “forest restoration” delivers what it promises. For instance, Verra’s forest-offset programme came under scrutiny in 2023 when investigators argued that many of its avoided-deforestation credits were overestimated — raising questions about the true climate benefit.  While such concerns do not undercut the entire nature-investment sector, they highlight why due diligence is essential. Savvy investors can still finance impactful projects — but only by demanding strong monitoring and validation, permanence and additionality, and avoiding ‘leakage’ of negative impacts to other sites.

Effective monitoring and validation are critical to proving that forest restoration projects achieve their intended environmental outcomes and provide assurance to external investors and stakeholders. With robust monitoring systems, you can track restoration progress, assess ecological impacts, and verify the additionality of your investment. This way you can ensure that the restoration efforts result in genuine, measurable benefits to biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

To demonstrate restoration projects have been successful, they must be compared to meaningful references. In our work, we have developed practical tools to support a strategy for maximising restoration outcomes, and guidance on how to design effective forest restoration monitoring plans to verify success (see our Guidelines for Measuring, Reporting, and Verification of Forest Restoration. These resources enable you to make informed investment decisions, ensuring that restoration projects are efficient, sustainable, and impactful.