A living Amazon is vital for global stability, yet around 17% of its forests have already been lost and another 17% are highly degraded. For business and finance leaders gathering at Davos, the message is clear: prioritising a nature-positive Amazon is not merely an ethical choice, but an economic necessity.
The Amazon is an ecosystem in grave peril. Accelerating deforestation and environmental degradation threaten to push it beyond an ecological tipping point, transforming it from a carbon sink into a net carbon source with catastrophic local, regional, and global impacts . This would affect 47 million people and 511 Indigenous Peoples groups who depend on healthy Amazon ecosystems . The sectors driving this destruction—agriculture, mining, infrastructure, and natural resource use—are precisely where business and finance have tangible opportunities to support a new, sustainable development model .
The Business Case for a Living Amazon
For companies and financial institutions, the transition to a nature-positive Amazon is not about sacrifice but long-term value creation. This requires following established guidance to rid supply chains and portfolios of deforestation and conversion, while incentivising producers to switch to nature-positive practices . Despite some successes like the Soy Moratorium, a significant gap remains between private sector aspiration and delivery, with agri-commodity traders facing a pressing deadline for action .
One company demonstrating this shift is Natura, a Brazil-based global cosmetics company. At Natura, sustainability is not a cost but a “driver of value and an intrinsic part of our business model” . The company has developed an Integrated P&L that monetises environmental and social impacts alongside financial ones. For every US$1.00 of revenue, they generate US$2.50 in positive impact across natural, human, social, and financial capitals . Their 25-year partnership with Amazon communities for their Ekos product line proves that business growth and forest protection can go hand in hand .
New Financial Instruments and Carbon Markets
Innovative finance is also playing a role. In a notable transaction in July 2026, retail and technology giant Amazon.com committed to purchasing 1.95 million carbon credits over ten years from a large-scale land restoration project in South Africa’s Eastern Cape . This purchase guarantee enabled the World Bank to issue a $120 million “carbon bond” to investors, demonstrating how corporate demand for carbon credits can unlock significant private capital for nature-based solutions . The project will plant nearly 100 million Spekboom plants, restore 50,000 hectares of degraded land, and is expected to create 11,000 local jobs .
A New Economic Model: The Bioeconomy
Beyond carbon credits, the emerging “bioeconomy” offers a fundamental shift in how we value the rainforest. This model uses renewable biological resources and innovations to produce food, materials, and energy, making it financially viable to keep the forest standing . Initiatives like those from the nonprofit Fundacion Pachaysana provide financial incentives for local communities to preserve their land through regenerative agriculture .
The message for business and finance leaders is clear: the sectors destroying the Amazon offer the greatest opportunities for change. By eliminating deforestation, scaling sustainable production, and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the private sector can help deliver on global climate and nature goals while building more resilient and profitable business models. As the World Economic Forum stated, if there is one place on the planet where we should prioritise the pursuit of equitable, net-zero, nature-positive business, it is the Amazon
