3 things that need to change to create a more regenerative economy

If you lost a limb, you would likely survive. But if you lost your heart or lungs, you would die as an organism.

That is the analogy Atossa Soltani uses to describe the importance of the world’s rainforests to the planet’s future. The director of global strategy for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance (ASHA), Soltani and her organization support a coalition of 30 Indigenous nations in Ecuador and Peru working to preserve 35 million hectares of tropical rainforests. Key to that mission is protecting the bioeconomy by establishing a region that is off-limits to industrial-scale resource extraction – a major threat to the rainforest.

This area the size of Italy, she says, is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. By “putting life at the centre” of what it does, Sacred Headwaters is working to protect and restore this ecosystem. And Soltani emphasizes that this doesn’t just make sense from an environmental perspective, but an economic one too.

“The Amazon system feeds the economy of the continent,” she says, adding that scientists estimate that 70% of South America’s GDP is dependent on water from rain in the Amazon. “The forests are key to that hydroclimatic system. We lose the forest, we lose the economy.”

According to research from the World Economic Forum’s Nature Action Agenda, over half the world's GDP is highly or moderately dependent on natural resources and services.

Alongside protecting and restoring forests, working to change economic systems to be more regenerative is a major focus of ASHA. For Soltani, there are three areas in which change is needed for this to happen:

Soltani says that government plans for the areas ASHA is working to protect show “80% of the forest is under active threat from oil drilling, mining, agriculture, roads and dams”.

She believes those in power can be resistant to change, with entrenched political interests in activities including logging, mining and cattle ranching “holding back the collective interest of all of us and future generations”.

Raising awareness of the long-term benefits of a regenerative economy is key. “One hectare of forest devoted to agroforestry or conservation or restoration is able to generate way more income than a hectare of cattle ranching or a mine that leaves after 30 years, leaving behind huge environmental contamination,” Soltani explains.

The recent launch of the Brazil Restoration & Bioeconomy Finance Coalition is one example of how the public and private sectors can come together to restore land for ecological integrity, livelihood security and long-term economic growth. Announced by US President Joe Biden during a visit to the Amazon, the coalition, which includes the World Economic Forum, has committed to invest at least $10 billion by 2030 to accelerate the conservation and restoration of Brazil’s forests.

Amazonian countries are burdened by significant sovereign debt. One report on the situation says that these nations are in a “vicious circle” where they need more resources to cover their debts, which forces them to push their extractive supply chains, which in turn puts greater pressure on those resources and the climate.

“They mortgaged their rainforest in order to just pay the interest on the debt,” Soltani says. “Ecuador uses most of the revenues it generates from mining and oil just to pay the interest on the debt. So what do we need?

“We need debt relief. We need debt cancellation at scale, conditioned on commitments by countries in the Amazon to protect their forest, to restore their forests, and to transition to a bioeconomy that's regenerative.”

An example of this in practice can be found in Ecuador, which in 2023 sealed the world's largest "debt-for-nature" swap. The deal cut the country's debt by over $1 billion, with Ecuador agreeing to invest at least $12 million a year into the conservation of its scientifically important archipelago, the Galapagos Islands.

Alongside, investment policies and supply chains must move to become deforestation-free, according to Soltani.

She cites the example of the European Union regulation on deforestation-free products – rules to make sure EU citizens aren’t consuming anything that contributes to global deforestation or forest degradation – as a positive step in this direction. Other efforts in this area include the Tropical Forest Alliance, a project hosted by the World Economic Forum that is working to bring together partners around the common goal of finding solutions to tackle deforestation linked to the production of agricultural commodities.

“We need to make sure that the soy you purchase, or the beef you consume, or the gold that you buy doesn't come from deforestation. And [those] kinds of supply chain regulations need to be expanded globally.”

She adds that it’s also vital to call on investors to have deforestation-free portfolios and policies.

“Economies that are diverse and based on nature and life flourishing are more profitable and benefit more people for a longer period of time,” Soltani concludes. “The world could transition from an extractive life-blind economy to an economy based on the flourishing of life, harmony with nature, and the protection of these vital organs – the heart of the planet – for future generations.”