The Bonn challenge
In 2011, world leaders met in Bonn and set the ambitious goal of restoring 150 million hectares of degraded forest land by 2020. Their goal was named the Bonn Challenge.
The Aichi Biodiversity Target 15 within the Convention on Biological Diversity has a similar goal, namely the restoration of at least 15% of degraded ecosystems globally. Two challenges facing these goals are how to fund this large-scale restoration and how to ensure that it is implemented effectively.
The C4 team specialises in overcoming these challenges and developing funding mechanisms as well as restoration protocols for specific ecosystems.
Our approach
- Experiment with a wide range of interventions for generating tailored ecosystems that yield a wide range of products for local communities.
- Develop rigorous financial models that include cash flows from a wide range of products over the long-term.
- Work with financial experts, governments, financial institutions and impact investors to develop bridging finance mechanisms.
- Undertake long-term research to monitor the effects of the interventions on biodiversity as well as community livelihoods.
Given the importance of the Earth’s ecosystems for human well-being, unsustainable competition for resources has driven humankind into a new planetary era known as the Anthropocene. Ecosystem restoration provides the opportunity to halt and reverse ecosystem degradation, which in turn reduces pressure on natural resources, and contributes directly to sustainable livelihoods and job creation.