Anna Storgaard
29. Oktober 2025
The financial case for nature-based coastal protection
We are excited to commit 900,000 DKK to Green Finance Institute Denmark – a not-for-profit financial organisation dedicated to creating a greener future made possible by finance, part of an international organisation funded by Laudes and Quadrature Climate Foundation.
As coastal areas become increasingly exposed to storm surges, sea-level rise and urbanisation, coastal protection is no longer an option but a societal necessity, requiring new, more sustainable models for financing.
Together with experts from the Ramboll Group, the Green Finance Institute will strengthen the economic and social case for nature-based coastal protection.
Our funding will support efforts to promote nature-based coastal protection as an alternative to conventional, resource-intensive methods. Such approaches can not only provide more cost-effective and more efficient flood-risk management but also create significant additional social and ecological value for people and nature.
GFI will demonstrate how private and public finance can be mobilised to make these solutions both investable and scalable. As a neutral market convenor, GFI identifies and designs financial structures and incentives that enable projects to deliver lasting value in nine international markets.
There is increasing evidence behind nature-based solutions (NBS) as an effective mitigation and adaptation tool. Simultaneously, NBS promotes citizen wellbeing and biodiversity values and has proven more cost-efficient than conventional resource-intensive solutions. Yet, when faced with an imminent threat like coastal flooding, we tend to opt for the tried-and-tested solutions that have worked historically. We need to adapt our mindset and toolbox to a new reality. Therefore, this project will create the financial and technical arguments for why NBS should be the preferred solution.
By combining the Ramboll Group’s technical and planning expertise with the Green Finance Institute’s insights into sustainable finance and market design, this project aims to set a new benchmark and business case within planetary boundaries for coastal climate adaptation.
At the Ramboll Foundation, we believe it is imperative to take into account planetary boundaries early and substantively in decision making processes around projects with large impacts, such as coastal protection. One aspect of this will be to build the financial case for sustainable nature-based solutions, and we are very pleased to support the efforts of the Green Finance Institute in this work.
Want to know more?
Asbjørn Kristensen Høgsbro
Head of Philanthropy
+45 61 24 63 69