Restoration of forests could create $230 billion in business opportunities

Restoration of forests could create $230 billion in business opportunities and 16 million jobs worldwide by 2030 L’Oréal created a Fund for Nature Regeneration, a €50 million. Nestlé has announced they will distribute 2.8 million shade trees by 2022 in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Mastercard committed with its 30-plus partners to restore 100 million trees over the next five years.  Multi National Corporates are heavily investing in nature based solutions to harness the vital ecosystem services, especially from forests.

The Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in 2019 held an investor summit signing MOU’s worth Rs. 96,000 crores. The Covid 19 outbreak has however disrupted many of these commitments. Himachal Pradesh and other provincial governments in Himalayas must initiate networking and recover from increasing debt burdens. The U.N. is launching the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to reverse environmental degradation worldwide. Over half of global GDP, or $44 trillion, is threatened , making restoration an economic priority in the decade ahead. The wind of change is rapidly becoming a storm. The question remains. How resilient is the Himalayan Society to embrace this change.