As climate change’s impacts grow, leaders are pushing for increased financial resources that address the crisis while at the same time fostering biodiversity and rural development. 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People (1000L) launched an open letter to support this effort, Funding a Better Future: An Urgent Plea and Plan to Remake the Financial System to Support Holistic Landscape Development Led by Local People, that calls for transforming the global financial system. The letter asks financial and political leaders to adopt integrated landscape finance (ILF) as a coordinated and effective response to global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
ILF is an approach to finance that emphasizes collaboration across various sectors to support economies, livelihoods, ecosystems, and climate action. This mechanism aligns investments with the people and projects where it is most effective, recognizing the interconnectedness of global and local challenges. Through ILF, coalitions of landscape actors bring together multiple projects that address diverse sectors’ unique needs and challenges, creating smart, coordinated investments.
The campaign to increase support for the open letter will continue throughout 2024 as more organizations, community members, and financial and political leaders sign on. It will culminate in December at this year’s UN climate change conference when organizers will lodge an official request for heads of state to accept the open letter’s recommendations.
“This open letter underscores the urgency that now is the time for transformative action—our efforts must focus on the sufficiently broad scale of landscapes,” says Dr. Sara Scherr, president of the nonprofit EcoAgriculture Partners and co-chair of 1000L. “We believe this letter can spur global financiers and policymakers to rethink the status quo. It’s not just a blueprint for action. It’s a manifesto for a new era of financial innovation that supports and sustains life in all its forms.”
The letter calls on financial and political leaders to embrace ILF through six specific and actionable recommendations:
-
-
- Invest in locally led development, conservation, and adaptation initiatives.
- Transition from short-term project-based funding to long-term landscape and territorial-scale projects.
- Fund local multi-stakeholder alliances and processes that coordinate landscape-wide investment portfolios.
- Source investments from projects developed by local communities managing landscapes sustainably.
- Collaborate and coordinate across sectors to enhance project impact.
- Structure large financial flows to fund integrated portfolios across entire landscapes or territories.
-
Since its launch, the letter has garnered signatures from nearly 100 financial, nonprofit, and political leaders from 35 countries and 25 organizations, including Rainforest Alliance and Conservation International.
“Global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss demand a robust financial system that is aligned with the needs of both people and nature,” says Santiago Gowland, CEO of Rainforest Alliance. “This open letter is a clarion call to fully transform our financial frameworks.”
Gowland said the letter “urges a shift toward systems where funding and investments efficiently reach grassroots landscape projects, which are crucial in combating ecological, social, and economic threats. Doing so will address pressing environmental concerns and pave the way for businesses, investors, and supply chains to become more resilient, efficient, and sustainable. This is not just a financial shift. It’s a paradigm shift toward a future where economic and environmental health go hand in hand.”
Money alone cannot solve the intersecting climate, biodiversity, and economic crises. Social infrastructure must be in place to ensure that money and resources are distributed to the people and places that need it most. With your help, the open letter can illuminate a path forward for world financial systems that are nature-positive, effective, and collaborative. Add your signature to the open letter here. Join the movement to fund a better future.
