Nature-based solutions projects need capital that reflects ecological timeframes. C4’s discussions in London recently showed where finance and delivery models for these projects are changing.

Many nature-based solutions (NbS) projects require 10–12 years to reach full productivity — beyond the typical horizon of many financiers. This mismatch emerged as a central constraint during C4’s discussions at London Climate Action Week 2026. Held from 20 to 28 June, the event brought together more than 100,000 participants from over 100 countries across more than 1,300 events.

Al Gore’s address at Guildhall drew a standing ovation. Although the audience was predisposed towards climate action, the response is evidence of sustained commitment among delegates to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Dr Anthony Mills, Senior Strategic Advisor, and Jaun van Loggerenberg, Carbon Development Director, represented C4. Anthony and Jaun’s discussions focused less on broad commitments and more on practical questions: how to align capital with ecological timeframes; how to implement projects at scale; how to manage long-term risk; and how African institutions can greatly influence climate finance.

These voices from London echoed observations by Ruan van Mazijk, Lead Scientific Consultant at C4, from the ‘Opportunities for Carbon Credit Markets in South Africa and its Region’ forum in Johannesburg in May. The forum reached a similar conclusion from an African market perspective: opportunity is not the main constraint; dependable execution is what investors prioritise.

C4’s discussions at these events with investors, buyers and climate finance institutions produced five practical signals for project developers.

1. Patient capital is a defining requirement

C4’s discussions confirmed interest in NbS among institutional investors with experience in forestry and other long-duration real assets. However, their investment horizons remain mismatched to the time required for ecosystem restoration, natural resource and landscape management projects to mature to full operation.

Participants repeatedly identified Timberland Investment Group (TIG), part of BTG Pactual, as a promising source of institutional capital for NbS. Its forestry investment model matches the longer horizons these projects require.

This makes Timberland investors, patient family capital and other long-horizon funders particularly relevant.

For project developers, the central question is whether funding structures match the timing of (rather than just being available to) assets’ ecological development. Financial design should reflect realistic growth curves, phased implementation, appropriate return expectations and long-term stewardship from the outset. The Johannesburg forum identified an immediate financing gap within this longer horizon: projects often need capital for the first 18–36 months of feasibility, community engagement, validation, monitoring and verification before credit revenue begins.

2. Investors are looking for credible implementation capacity

Finance alone will not deliver high-integrity NbS projects. One major corporate buyer told C4 that it is actively seeking credible implementation partners, subject to rigorous due diligence processes on their part.

Credible implementation requires more than a technically sound carbon model. It requires ecological expertise, strong local relationships, transparent governance, equitable benefit sharing and long-term monitoring. Teams should also remain adaptable as environmental or social conditions for their project may change.

Investors and buyers will place greater emphasis on operational capacity as due diligence process become more demanding. Projects must show who will undertake the work, how teams will make decisions, how communities will participate and how performance will continue beyond initial funding or crediting periods.

Implementation readiness is increasingly an investment criterion in its own right.

3. African climate finance may become more locally anchored

Green Climate Fund leaders in Africa indicated that the Fund may increasingly use local banks and development finance institutions as delivery channels.

This shift could change how African projects are originated, assessed and financed. Local institutions understand national priorities, regulatory conditions and market realities. Using them as delivery channels could also build lasting financial capacity in the countries where projects are implemented.

This decentralisation of delivery will not automatically make climate finance easier to access. Local banks and development finance institutions would need appropriate risk-sharing mechanisms, technical assistance and pipelines of existing (or early-stage) projects. Developers would also need to navigate a broader range of locally specific funding requirements.

For African NbS projects, strong domestic financial partnerships may become central to raising capital and delivering projects.

4. What selective investors are still funding

Some corporate buyers remain cautious and are delaying substantial commitments. However, C4’s discussions found that some buyers continue to invest, including through individual business ventures.

One large agroforestry transaction discussed during the week indicated that well-structured forward purchases can still attract strong pricing. This is particularly relevant where projects connect carbon finance with land restoration and farmer livelihoods.

Market momentum remains uneven, and credible projects are not guaranteed to secure a buyer quickly. Even so, projects with strong implementation plans can continue to attract serious buyer interest. The forum in Johannesburg similarly discussed how buyer selectivity follows identifiable signals: credible cash flows, capable delivery teams, traceable data, clear land and carbon rights and long-term offtake arrangements.

Developers should therefore build projects around measurable landscape outcomes instead of treating carbon as a stand-alone commodity. Carbon revenue pays the bills, while projects should protect ecological integrity, share benefits equitably and remain commercially viable.

5. New tools can help manage long-term risk

Specialist insurers are developing products that could extend cover beyond the conventional five-year cycle. Longer-term insurance could help investors manage risks throughout an NbS project.

Specialists are also applying artificial intelligence to practical monitoring challenges, including automated analyses of large ecological data sets, including camera-trap data. AI tools would reduce analysis time and help teams respond more quickly to signals from on-the-ground implementation.

Government advisers, too, reported growing convergence between the requirements environmental, social and governance best practice, carbon markets and biodiversity credits. Governments and companies may increasingly need to manage these requirements simultaneously.

AI tools complement rather than replace ecological judgement and field-based implementation. Applied to defined challenges, they can strengthen monitoring and risk management.

What the five signals mean for C4’s clients and the sector

For C4’s clients (investors and project developers alike), the five signals have practical implications across the NbS project lifecycle. Financial structures should reflect ecological timeframes. Implementation teams should withstand rigorous due diligence. Local financial partnerships and risk-management systems should remain effective for at least a decade.

C4, in line with these implications, combines ecological expertise with African delivery partnerships to help clients align financial design with ecological development, establish implementation systems that satisfy investor scrutiny and measure climate, biodiversity and livelihood outcomes. As emphasised in May’s forum in Johannesburg, it is this scientific capacity, locally led monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) and transparent benefit sharing designs that make NbS projects bankable.

The decisive test for NbS will be whether finance and delivery models can sustain ecological and financial performance for decades to come.