In the run up to this year’s COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow in November, here we shine a spotlight on the leading companies, products and behaviours that support the call for the UK to develop a world-leading net zero financial system.

With offices in the UK and Mexico, Cultivo is a California based fintech with a mission to unlock investment in nature, at scale. Purpose led, to take care of nature so that nature can take care of us, they are innovators in developing an asset class that provides a healthy financial return as well as positive natural and social returns.

Having diversity and resilience as their foundations, they take a biodiversity first approach to selecting projects to secure investment for, as those with high biodiversity, have higher resilience and higher natural capital flows in the long term. Sequestering carbon is only one part of the story, as their projects also generate local jobs, as well as protecting vital biodiversity and providing fresh water.

Their projects are carefully selected and analysed using satellite data and remote sensor technology to forecast the value of their natural capital. With an approach based on Protect, Manage and Restore, Cultivo has developed a special-purpose instrument that allows institutions to invest on a commercial basis, with returns coming from carbon and biodiversity offsets and other factors such as improved soil quality or eco-tourism.

Cultivo’s ambition is to unlock $1 billion of investment over the next five years in at least 3.5 million hectares of restoration projects, including forests, grasslands, wetlands and regenerative agriculture.

In their own words

Why it’s important?

In the global race to net zero, nature-based solutions could account for 30% of carbon mitigation goals, but currently, only attract 3.0% of the funding allocated to emissions capture. The key is to bring in finance, but in a responsible and sustainable way.

Cultivo are creating an innovative investment and financing nature-based vehicle that works in partnership with the investors, landowners, NGOs and project developers. It’s a global solution for a global challenge. Being purpose led ensures an approach to protect, manage and restore and crucially, secures long-term commitment to both land, society and investment.

As they say, only by working together can we restore and protect nature at scale.