Introduction

Our living planet and the climate system are changing at an unprecedented speed. The way our economies are organized and capital is allocated, needs to adapt to this new planetary reality to secure a safe and just future for all. These changes need to happen with a sense of urgency and based on the best available evidence. 

This report is the result of several ongoing research projects hosted by, or connected to, the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University. Our ambition is to offer the latest insights from research that explores the connections between investments, ecosystems and the biosphere (chapter 2, 3). We focus particularly on the challenges facing the Amazon, including its proposed “tipping point” and its broader implications for the region (chapter 4-5); the way in which some of these abrupt changes can cascade through economic sectors, thus resulting in novel financial risks (chapter 6); and on tangible solution pathways that can help mitigate and act on such risks proactively and for the benefit of both people and planet (chapter 7-9).

The work presented in this report is an extension of previous work prepared for Stockholm+50, an international meeting convened by the United Nations General Assembly held in Stockholm, Sweden from 2-3 June 2022. The results are also the result ongoing collaborations between the Natural Capital Project (Stanford University), Stockholm Resilience Centre (at Stockholm University) and the Inter-American Development Bank Lab (IDB Lab).

We hope that this short review report offers some new insights and contributes to decisive political action and financial innovation which is truly able to secure a prosperous future for all. 

The work behind this report has been funded by Formas through the research projects “Networks of Financial Rupture”, FinBio funded by Mistra, and by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (2017.0137).