Rethinking Infrastructure: Nature-based Solutions for a Sustainable Future
Humanity is facing a climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer an innovative approach to rethinking our essential infrastructure, from energy to transport, water, and digital networks. The goal is to integrate nature – the foundation of all life – and create functional, economically viable solutions in interaction with it. How can we unlock the full potential of these approaches to build a sustainable future for all?
B Capital Partners AG – Brand Report
B Capital Partners (Zurich) invests in sustainable infrastructure assets of the "next generation." Since 2003, B Capital Partners has demonstrated that financial returns and positive impact can go hand in hand. The consistent use of NbS (Nature-based Solutions) opens up new ways to create future-proof infrastructure that is truly in harmony with nature and sustainable in the long term.
What are Nature-based Solutions?
NbS are based on the "knowledge" and regenerative power of nature, using its natural processes and systems to design modern infrastructure in harmony with nature. The challenge is to rethink infrastructure: both the type of infrastructure needed in the future and its functionality, while looking back to nature. NbS offer a range of innovative, often simple and cost-effective approaches – from roads and paths that generate energy through movement to green roofs. When implemented smartly, these solutions are economically profitable, attracting investors to put their capital into sustainable infrastructure – a win-win situation for nature and investors alike.
Reimagining Infrastructure
Infrastructure is the backbone of any society: physical assets with network character that provide energy, transportation, water supply, and data exchange. Since the Industrial Revolution, such infrastructure has often been built at the expense of the environment and local communities. Given that nature is the source of all life and economic activity, this approach has not been progressive or in humanity's long-term interest. Looking ahead, it makes more sense – as indigenous peoples do – to see ourselves as part of the natural cycle. Interventions in nature should be kept to a minimum, as they are in our own best interest. The goal is a circular economy modeled on nature, where all "waste" is fed back into the cycle. There is no waste. Everything is reused. Infrastructure must be built with new technologies, recycled materials, and biodegradable components that, for example, regenerate themselves, adapt to climate changes, and produce a positive net energy balance.
Nature-based Solutions: Examples
Examples of maritime NbS are found in a study by B Capital Partners, SwissRe, and the International Dredging Association (2021). It shows how mangrove forests, for example, not only provide protection from storm surges but also promote biodiversity and sequester CO₂. This strengthens resilience to extreme weather events and creates long-term economic value.
Double Bottom Line: Profit + Impact
NbS offer a constructive, sustainable response to climate change and the loss of biodiversity. However, building such solutions requires large amounts of capital, which public entities cannot shoulder alone. Investors are needed to fund attractive investment opportunities. The challenge remains to create intelligent, profit-oriented business models for this nature-aligned infrastructure, which can function on a market basis without subsidies. The legislature will play a central role in shaping these business models, as only it can assign a monetary value to the preservation and restoration of nature through law. The double bottom line approach of NbS is a win-win: attractive financial returns plus positive impact for nature and people. Although NbS have the potential to revolutionize infrastructure, and there are already convincing solutions, the market is undercapitalized and underdeveloped. This highlights the urgency of directing capital into NbS infrastructure. B Capital sees this as an opportunity. Through strategic partnerships, the necessary capital can be provided to build the next generation of sustainable infrastructure.
Next-Gen Infrastructure
The opportunity lies in redesigning our infrastructure from the ground up: nature-based, environmentally friendly, resilient, and sustainable. The objective is to create infrastructure that repairs itself, generates net energy, and adapts to climate changes, making it viable for current and future generations. B Capital supports innovative approaches to promote a thriving future for all. Through partnerships and thoughtful business models, infrastructure can be developed that is in harmony with nature.
As Victor Hugo said: "There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come."