Diplomacy and natural capital: the protection of nature in Spanish foreign action

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The report argues that nature has ceased to be a strictly environmental matter and has become an economic, financial and geopolitical factor. Ecosystem degradation affects food and water security, supply chains, financial stability, and the exposure of companies and banks to physical risks. Countries like the United Kingdom, France, Norway or the Netherlands integrate nature as a key vector of their foreign policy, whether through thematic funds, blended finance, payments for results, debt-for-nature swaps, guarantees, scientific diplomacy or a nation brand built around nature.

Spain starts from a particularly favorable position: it is one of the most biodiverse countries in Europe, possesses strong capabilities in water, forestry management or tourism, and enjoys a privileged relationship with Latin America and the Mediterranean. However, the report identifies a clear gap between those assets and their external projection: there is a lack of an institutional, financial and diplomatic architecture to turn them into effective influence.

The central proposal is to place nature at the core of Spanish foreign action. To this end, measures are proposed such as creating a Spanish Fund for Nature in the World, strengthening the role of COFIDES, exploring debt-for-nature swaps, promoting an Ibero-American Partnership for Nature, creating a Nature Diplomacy Unit, building water and forestry diplomacy, and integrating biodiversity into the Spain brand. The underlying message is clear: Spain does not need to invent the agenda, but rather coordinate its capabilities to lead it.

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