What is Gross Domestic Regeneration?

I thought last month’s article on natural infrastructure would be the final one in my series on Nature. But then I came across the work of Tenzin Seldon and her idea of Gross Domestic Regeneration (GDR), and I wanted to explore her question of, what if we measured an economy by what it restores, as well as what it produces?

Seldon grew up in the Himalayas and experienced climate change firsthand as she watched a glacier melt and destroy the area around her home. She later moved to the US as a teenager, studied at Stanford where she was at the top of her class, then earned a dual master’s degree from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. She has worked on disaster-risk policy with the United Nations, and now she founded and leads Pulse Fund, which invests in climate-focused companies, all while developing GDR as a way to think differently about economic progress (Milken Institute, 2023).

In my last article, I explored how natural solutions can be part of modern infrastructure.Tthis time, I’m looking at the economic value behind them. We often talk about nature and the economy as if they belong in separate conversations, but everything from farms to cities rely on the natural resources of healthy soil, clean water, and stable ecosystems. When those foundations are weakened, the costs show up in things like our food supply, health care, household costs, and the price of insuring homes and businesses (One Earth, 2026).

Traditionally the health of an economy has been measured using Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is useful for measuring economic activity and telling us how much of something has been produced. But it can’t tell us whether the natural and social systems that support production are being strengthened or depleted, and consequently, how long an economy can maintain that output. GDR is Seldon’s proposed way of bringing those conditions into the equation (Milken Institute, 2023).

Seldon describes GDR through the regeneration of three connected dimensions: ecological health, the strength of communities and society, and the resilience of livelihoods and capital. The GDR Institute is beginning to put the idea into practice with indicators such as emissions intensity, protected land, poverty, healthcare coverage, wealth distribution, export concentrations, and public debt. The three pillars are combined so a high score in one can’t hide a serious weakness in another.

GDR’s broader lens can help make nature’s economic benefits more visible. Natural infrastructure is often compared with built infrastructure on upfront costs, even though many of its benefits, such as reduced flood risk and damage, cleaner water, cooler streets, and healthier ecosystems, arrive over time. An International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) assessment of 45 nature-based infrastructure projects across 29 countries estimated a median benefit-cost ratio of US$3.21 in benefits for every US$1 invested, along with a median internal rate of return of 38%. The projects varied, so these figures aren’t guaranteed returns for every investment. However, they do show how including longer-term benefits can change the economic case for investing in nature (IISD, 2026).

The scale of Canada’s natural-resource economy makes this notion particularly relevant. In 2024, the natural resources sector directly and indirectly accounted for 16% of Canada’s nominal GDP, or $459 billion. The direct contribution was 12.7% with another 3.3% coming from indirect activity (Natural Resources Canada, 2026). Those figures show how much economic activity is connected to the sector, but they don’t, on their own, tell us whether the resources are being renewed or depleted. Here in the Prairies, the IISD estimates that the sector added CAD$4.1 billion to Prairie GDP in 2022 and directly employed more than 33,000 people. Its analysis found that an additional CAD$40 million to $100 million in annual investment could support 18% to 25% direct job growth in the sector by 2030, compared with business as usual (IISD, 2023).

In one study comparing regenerative and conventional corn production in the Northern Plains, the regenerative fields produced 29% less grain but generated 78% higher profits. The researchers found that profit was associated with soil organic matter rather than yield. This was one specific study, but it offers a useful indicator that healthy soil can help farmers retain water and cycle nutrients while maintaining profits and long-term sustainable productivity (LaCanne & Lundgren, 2018).

A different approach is being tested in West Kalimantan, Indonesia through the KehatiKu program, where residents in nine villages can earn payments for verified photographs, videos, or audio recordings of wildlife. The observations help build data on local species and gives wildlife a living value in the local economy and an alternative to poaching as a source of income for locals (Agence France-Presse, 2026).

GDR is still developing, and its national scoring method relies on provisional thresholds and uncertainty ranges. For now, I see its value in bringing two questions to the forefront. What must remain healthy for an economy to thrive? And, are our decisions strengthening those foundations or drawing them down? These are questions we should be asking at all levels of an economy, from individual companies to entire countries.

Seldon’s standing ovation at THE NAT in New York in September is one sign that this idea is resonating with people. It feels relevant in Canada too, as more than half of Canadians say they are highly concerned about climate change (Facette et al., 2026). Approaches that show how protecting nature and strengthening social systems can support livelihoods and economic resilience offer a hopeful way forward as GDR can help decision-makers weigh investments more fully and plan for lasting prosperity.

Bibliography

Agence France-Presse. (2026). Point, shoot, get paid: How Indonesia’s Borneo villagers turn wildlife into a side hustle. Malay Mail. https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2026/09/18/point-shoot-get-paid-how-indonesias-borneo-villagers-turn-wildlife-into-a-side-hustle/235492

Facette, T., Christidis, T., Howe, A., & Pinault, L. (2026). Feeling the heat: More than half of Canadians are highly concerned about climate change. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2026001/article/00008-eng.htm

International Institute for Sustainable Development. (2023). Natural infrastructure and Prairie prosperity: Current contributions and opportunities for growth in the natural infrastructure sector. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/natural-infrastructure-prairie-prosperity

International Institute for Sustainable Development. (2026). The economic case for nature-based infrastructure. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/economic-case-nature-based-infrastructure

LaCanne, C. E., & Lundgren, J. G. (2018). Regenerative agriculture: Merging farming and natural resource conservation profitably. PeerJ, 6, e4428. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4428

Milken Institute. (2023). Tenzin Seldon. https://milkeninstitute.org/events/global-conference-2023/speakers/tenzin-seldon

Natural Resources Canada. (2026). 10 key facts on Canada’s natural resources – 2024. https://natural-resources.canada.ca/science-data/data-analysis/10-key-facts-canada-s-natural-resources-2024

One Earth. (2026). Tenzin Seldon wants the economy to measure what it restores, not just what it produces. https://www.oneearth.org/one-earth-hero-tenzin-seldon/