Nature’s value is zero in our economic system. It’s invisible to economists, so there’s no incentive to preserve it. But we need nature and the services it provides for food, fuel and resources. It underpins our economy. 

Most economic activity is destroying natural capital at an unsustainable rate, affecting our capacity to thrive in future. 

To reverse this, investment in nature restoration is needed. But public money is unlikely to pay for the scale of restoration required. Private finance is needed to fill the gap and businesses have an incentive as it affects their future bottom line. 

This is the first of three Green Alliance briefings on the development of nature markets. In this briefing we focus on the supply side and suggest three government opportunities to create and shape markets for nature.