Nature as Critical Infrastructure: A Governance and Systemic-Risk Framework for Economic Stability and Democratic Resilience

Contemporary policy and economic systems continue to treat nature primarily as an environmental externality or only as a conservation concern, despite increasing evidence that ecological degradation is driving systemic risks across economies, democratic institutions, and geopolitical stability. Existing frameworks—ranging from climate mitigation to biodiversity conservation—remain fragmented and insufficient to account for the cascading failures that emerge when ecological systems are destabilized. This working paper introduces Nature as Critical Infrastructure, a unifying conceptual framework that reframes ecosystems as foundational systems whose integrity underpins economic performance, democratic governance, and societal resilience. Drawing on insights from Earth system science, infrastructure theory, and political economy, the paper argues that nature functions analogously to other forms of critical infrastructure: its degradation generates non-linear, cross-sectoral, and often irreversible impacts. The framework examines implications for risk governance, public investment, and institutional design, providing a roadmap for states to move from reactive disaster relief to proactive, systemic investment in ecological foundations.