Policy & Markets Analytics
Delivering practical science and economics to enable systemic change through policy and markets.
Nature is the foundation of our economy. Companies and communities rely on nature for everything from providing food to filtering the air and water to protecting them from floods. As ecosystems are degraded at a global scale and the impact of climate change is increasing, ambitious action is needed by both governments and business to address these interlinked crises.
And the public and private sector have incentive to act – the World Economic Forum has determined over half of the world’s total GDP are moderately or highly dependent on nature. Companies and policymakers can look to innovative natural solutions to solve their own challenges, while actively restoring nature. From investing in forests to mitigate climate change to restoring marshes to protect factories from storm surges, nature is a key part of the solution.
PMA's Evolution
The Nature Conservancy’s Policy & Markets Analytics (PMA) team–formerly known as the Center for Sustainability Science–works with partners to bring science and economics to solutions that increase the scale of investment in climate and conservation. This work makes the case for conservation in terms that decision-makers care about and bolsters equitable solutions.
The team was established in 2015 to build TNC’s capacity to deliver science-based solutions for the public and private sectors, translating rigorous science and economic analysis into high impact, usable products. Working closely with TNC’s Corporate Engagement program, the team strategically built science and economics capacity to collaborate with companies, changing how decisions are made and how business is done. This included science leadership for ground-breaking collaborations with Dow and Syngenta to demonstrate how to achieve conservation outcomes through shifts in business.
In 2021, the program evolved as it joined the new Impact Finance & Markets (IFM) division – a new program bringing together TNC’s private sector and finance-focused work – while maintaining close ties to our Policy program. With a track-record of delivering practical and timely analysis and tools to improve corporate sustainability, the team was well positioned to expand its scope and impact working with teams across IFM to influence the private sector, while also growing economics capacity to deliver targeted analysis to influence policy and markets.
Quote: Jen Molnar
Significant shifts in policy and markets are needed if we are to address the biodiversity and climate crises at the scale needed – and targeted science and economics can inform how we can best achieve that
Our Focus
Our current areas of focus include:
Economics for Policy and Markets
The public and private sectors are increasingly considering investments in climate and biodiversity solutions. TNC uses economic analysis to influence decision makers on their own terms, making a case for investments and informing the effective and equitable implementation of these investments by assessing the distributional impacts (who benefits, who bears the cost) of proposed policies and financial mechanisms.
Raising the Corporate Bar
Engaging in voluntary corporate standard setting related to climate and nature to ensure both scientific credibility and practical implementation.
Biodiversity and Nature in Markets
Developing science-based solutions in partnership with companies and investors to move towards a nature-positive economy.
Climate Adaptation
In partnership with climate experts at TNC, PMA utilizes science and economics analysis to guide strategy development and adoption of nature-based solutions (NBS) within the public and private sector.
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Conservation by Design
Conservation by Design articulates our conservation vision and marries our collaborative, science-based approach with key analytical methods.
Science for Nature and People Partnership
SNAPP has provided science and user-friendly tools backed by hard data to help solve some of the most complex challenges the world faces.
A Climate for All of Us
The Nature Conservancy’s new chief scientist, Katharine Hayhoe, shares why she cares about climate change and her fears about who will be hit hardest by its impacts.