Innovate 4 Nature is an accelerator that supports the development of nature-positive solutions, fostering collaboration with companies, foundations, and investors seeking innovative approaches to biodiversity. By connecting these stakeholders, we aim to address nature risks and promote nature-positive business models.
The loss of biological diversity threatens the very foundations of our society, posing risks to food security, our health and businesses. We need nature-positive Solutions that protect, sustainably manage and restore natural ecosystems while providing human well-being and halt or reverse nature loss. According to upcoming regulations and strategies in the EU to promote biodiversity, there will be requirements to invest in nature and accelerate NbS. This is a new investment area and will require more robustness through qualified assessments based on the IUCN Global Standard for NbS and a platform for solutions, corporates, foundations and investors.
Calling all nature-based #climate innovators!
During the #AirbusSummit we announced a three-year partnership between #AirbusFoundation and Solar Impulse Foundation, headed by environmental pioneer Bertrand Piccard.
Today, the two foundations, in collaboration with Space4Good, are launching a call for projects that can harness #aerospace capabilities for nature-based climate resilience.
If you’re a non-profit working on nature-based solutions, the Airbus Foundation wants to hear from you!
Check out our latest story to learn more about the call for projects and the mission to enhance life on land and underwater: https://lnkd.in/ehSCTtZ6
Sector spotlight Chemical: its nature impact, dependencies and actions to take
Find out below how the Chemical sector impacts and depends on nature, and what action it must take to become nature positive (Source: WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development report).
Innovate 4 Nature accelerates solutions that can transform value chains, including the Chemical sector's. Here are some examples:
👉🏽ALIEN Limited turns an inedible invasive species into bio-based raw materials.
👉🏽Chemolex produces biopactic material as an alternative to plastics.
👉🏽Coral Bioworks: turns seaweed into industrial ingredients through a biorefining model, empowering coastal communities and enabling next-generation biobased products.
👉🏽Digit Soil provides solutions from basic research to field application for soil care, relevant for the use of chemical fertilisers.
👉🏽 Nala Earth helps companies measure their dependency and impact on nature and biodiversity throughout their value chains.
👉🏽Proteofy transforms protein-rich food by-products into versatile biopolymers that form the foundation for a wide range of applications.
#ChemicalSector#NaturePositive#Innovation
Meet I4N Award winner 2024: Savimbo
Savimbo won the I4N Award in the category Sustainable Management of Ecosystems last year - here's an overview of their nature-positive solution.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆:
Savimbo is a company created by, and for, Indigenous Peoples and local communities. They pay Indigenous Peoples and subsistence farmers in tropical forests to preserve ecosystems. They then certify credits, sell them internationally, and split gross revenue, leading to effective, inexpensive, and globally-beneficial climate action.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁:
Savimbo comprises a for-profit and non-profit arm. The for-profit arm is solely focused on the fair trade of climate products. They offer the regions they work in direct trade with business partners, for superfood crops, ecotourism, and climate credits like carbon, biodiversity, and water conservation. Their non-profit arm focuses on regions that have either been marginalized for centuries, or excluded from markets, and supports them on topics such as land rights, literacy, and living conditions.
So far, the retention rate of their enrolled small farmers is 100%, and more than 70,000ha of land are ecologically protected thanks to Savimbo.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲:
Ecosystem preservation, like Savimbo is doing, has an impact on various industries:
1. Agri-Food
2. Forest products
3. Travel & tourism
4. Fashion & apparel
5. Financial services
We are proud to count them among our award winners - it is solutions like theirs that will help us transition towards a nature-positive future.
Drea Burbank#Innovation#NaturePositive#RegenerativeFuture
We are delighted to announce that Innovate 4 Nature has joined the Business for Nature coalition!
As an influential global coalition comprising over 100 global organisations, Business for Nature's goal is to create a nature-positive economy for all by 2030.
They work on achieving this goal by:
👉 Providing the courage, comfort and technical expertise to governments so that they adopt, implement and enforce ambitious policies that help create a nature-positive economy
👉 Scaling and speeding up business action by strengthening, clarifying and amplifying why and how companies should act now
Joining Business for Nature aligns strongly with our mission at Innovate 4 Nature to accelerate nature-positive solutions.
We look forward to driving immediate action for nature together, because #NatureIsEveryonesBusiness.
Sector spotlight Agri-Food: its nature impact, dependencies and actions to take
More than half of global GDP is highly or moderately dependent on nature. Transitioning towards a regenerative future should therefore be a priority for all economic sectors.
Below you can see how the Agri-Food sector impacts and depends on nature, and what action it must take to become nature positive (Source: WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development report).
Innovate 4 Nature accelerates solutions that can transform value chains, including the Agri-Food sector's. Here are some examples:
👉🏽ALIEN Limited addresses the challenges linked to the spread of a harmful freshwater invasive species, the Quagga mussel.
👉🏽Chemolex offers impactful plastic waste management solutions and services.
👉🏽Coral Bioworks: turns seaweed into industrial ingredients, empowering coastal communities and enabling next-generation biobased products.
👉🏽Digit Soil provides solutions from basic research to field application for soil care
👉🏽GUAROFARMS delivers the rich flavors of Ethiopian spices while honoring their cultural heritage.
👉🏽Ocean Twist Biotechnology produces sustainable, high performance aquaculture feed through biotech treatment of novel raw ingredients including insects, micro algae and agricultural by-products.
👉🏽Proteofy transforms protein-rich food by-products into versatile biopolymers that form the foundation for a wide range of applications.
👉🏽Sand to Green specializes in arid soil restoration, regenerative agriculture, and water salinity treatment, transforming desert lands into thriving ecosystems.
👉🏽Savimbo creates, certifies, and sells fair-trade biodiversity credits directly from indigenous people and local communities.
#AgriFood#NaturePositive#Innovation
Today marks the International Day of Forests! 🌳
This year's theme 'Forests and Food' highlights the crucial role of forests in food security, nutrition and livelihoods - something that resonates well with what we do at Innovate 4 Nature.
Our mission is to accelerate nature-positive solutions, many of which address the well-being of forests, for example, by
- combatting deforestation,
- developing and implementing conservation and restoration projects,
- measuring forests' health, or
- supporting forest ventures
By accelerating these solutions, we hope to contribute to the protection of our forests so they can continue to provide the nutrition needed for generations to come.
🔗 Join us in driving impactful change: i4n.ch
🌳 How do you see innovation transforming food and forests? Let’s discuss! ⬇️
#InternationalDayOfForests#ForestsAndFood#NaturePositive
I just returned from the Villars Institute Summit and the pre-UpLink conference on Innovating for Nature. 1 critical question dominated every conversation:
How do we scale impactful solutions for nature?
During the ‘Getting Started’ session, I shared findings from our research in Switzerland and Latin America:
→ 500+ organizations have adopted TNFD.
→ 160+ are setting science-based targets for nature.
→ Most companies are still in early-stage integration despite nature dependencies.
→ Only 8% of companies in Switzerland and 4% in Latin America are leading the way.
→ 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱—recognized by just 26% in Switzerland, 36% in Latin America.
→ 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘄—only 9% in Switzerland, 5% in Latin America, 2% globally.
The challenge is clear:
Moving beyond commitments and turning pledges into action.
We need urgency.
We need creativity.
We need to connect the dots and build innovative pathways forward.
What will drive this shift? With regulatory pressure decreasing, will financial pressure or adaptation driven innovation be the catalyst for systemic change?
At Innovate 4 Nature we believe in the power of nature-positive solutions. That’s why, we’ve committed to accelerate 100 nature-positive solutions by 2030 with strategic partners, focusing on:
👉 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 - we identify and assess high quality nature-positive solutions: in 2024 402 solutions applied for the 1st I4N Award and 20 pitched in front of our Jury
👉𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 - we bring together innovators with corporates, investors, foundations and other relevant stakeholders at I4N events
👉𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 – we inform and influence decision makers to take into account nature for their businesses.
The next step? Scaling funding and corporate adoption.
Right now, capital is needed to bring these solutions to market.
We need investors and corporations to bridge this gap and move beyond pledges. If you're interested in helping bring these solutions to life, let’s talk.
P.S. A huge thank you to The Villars Institute and UpLink - World Economic Forum for convening such an insightful dialogue between solutions, investors, accelerators!
Meet I4N Award winner 2024: rrreefs
rrreefs won the I4N Award in the category Nature as Infrastructure last year - here's an overview of their nature-positive solution.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆:
rrreefs is an award-winning, female-founded start-up based in Switzerland that rebuilds, and regenerates degraded coral reefs across the globe. The ETH spin-off has combined scientific design and engineering to produce a unique system of interlocking 3D-printed clay modules that create complex habitats conducive to coral recruitment and habitats for various species of fish crustaceans, molluscs, and other macrofauna.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁:
rrreefs' vision is to revive coastal coral reefs globally – restoring rich marine biodiversity for healthy oceans and people. Current sites include Cooper Island (BVI), Pujada Bay and Siquijor (Philippines), Islote Sucre (Ecuador) and San Andrés (Columbia).
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀:
rrreefs currently engages with clients in the tourism market as well as in the growing biodiversity market across various industries demonstrating a commitment to environmental stewardship.
We are proud to count them among our award winners - it is solutions like theirs that will help us transition towards a nature-positive future.
Dr. Ulrike PfreundtJosephine Graf#Innovation#NaturePositive#RegenerativeFuture#rrreefs#I4NAward
