Financing Nature

In this episode, Margaret Kuhlow, Global Finance Lead at WWF International, walks us through several of the organisation's bankable nature solutions including project finance for permanence, as well as sharing hopes and concerns for COP27 and COP15. 

This week Emily McKenzie joins us to share more about the inner workings of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and the challenges of shifting financial flows to nature positive. The TNFD is delivering a risk management and disclosure framework for organisations to report and act on evolving nature-related risks which be launching in 2023. 

The Landscape Resilience Fund was designed by South Pole and WWF to lend to and invest in SMEs in emerging markets that are tackling climate adaptation. Urs Dieterich, managing director of the Fund, shares how climate adaptation and conservation go hand in hand, the similarities between financing both, and more about the Fund and its initial investment. 

What kind of standards, codes and governance structures are needed for investors to have confidence in buying carbon credits? In the UK, many carbon codes are under development to allow for the sale of credits from nature restoration. Professor Mark Reed has been a leading voice in the role of governance, as well as being the architect of the Peatland Carbon Code and involved in the development of...

Australia has been a pioneer in the development of a market for soil carbon, among other carbon markets in the the land sector. In this episode, Louisa Kiely, Director at Carbon Farmers of Australia, talks us through how the market is evolving. 

Natural Asset Companies, or NACs, are the creation of Intrinsic Exchange Group (IEG). They offer a new asset class to investors seeking nature positive opportunities - publicly listed companies dedicated to the restoration and preservation of nature, and with values based on natural assets. In this episode, Douglas Eger, founder of IEG walks us through how they work, and when we can expect the fir...

In 2016, ASN Bank set itself a target to become a nature net-positive bank by 2030. That commitment led the bank to measure the biodiversity impact of its loan portfolio and investments, and, more recently, for ASN Impact Investors to establish the first listed fund for nature investments for the retail sector. Roel Nozeman, who leads the bank's biodiversity work, in addition to being the programm...

How can private equity investments in early stage technology firms support large-scale land restoration projects? And, what do investors in each look for? In this episode, Anne-Laurence Roucher, Deputy CEO of Mirova, shares her firm's approach to natural capital in both land and marine restoration and through private equity investments, as well as touching on the barriers and solutions to driving...

The Taskforce on Nature Markets launched at the end of March. In this episode, co-chairs of the Secretariat, Simon Zadek and Marcelo Furtado of Finance for Biodiversity, share about the Taskforce's ambitions, and its work to embed "nature positive and equitable impact" across global markets. 

The Scottish National Investment Bank was set up at the end of 2020 to provide debt and equity investment to businesses in Scotland that support net zero, innovation and equality. Natural capital features high on its agenda, and chair of the Bank, Willie Watt, shares his insights on nature-related investment opportunities in Scotland and the Bank's strategy. 

Environmental DNA, or eDNA, is revolutionising the way companies can measure their impact on nature. Katie Critchlow, CEO of NatureMetrics that has brought eDNA into the mainstream, shares the work her firm are doing in supporting the move to nature positive, and creating investment opportunities in nature restoration. Katie also shares her insights into the role of data and technology in supporti...

How do eNGOs begin to adopt commercial finance in order to pay for conservation or restoration aims? Gwyn Williams, head of conservation investment, shares the experience of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as the charity has expanded to debt and equity finance, in addition to exploring forms of private finance - such as peatland carbon credits or biodiversity net gain - in ord...

The social impact investment market in the UK has grown to almost £10billion. What can we learn from its development and apply to the emerging nature investment space? Richard Speak, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Finance Earth and Managing Director of Finance for Sustainability, shares his experience from working in both social finance and nature finance, and highlights the key building bloc...

Evan Bowen-Jones joins us for this episode of Financing Nature to talk about the Wilder Carbon Standards, and his experience of the development of nature markets as CEO of Kent Wildlife Trust. The Standards have been developed to capture benefits from beyond carbon sequestration alone, and pilots are underway to test them. 

Sustainable forestry is becoming an increasingly sought-after investment as people look to timber as a climate solution. Radha Kuppalli, managing director of  impact and advocacy at New Forests Asset Management in Australia, joins us this episode to talk about how the market is developing; how carbon is increasing the attractiveness of timber assets; and how her company is looking at impact -...

In this episode, Gabe Eickhoff walks us through the different businesses of Lestari Capital from driving forest restoration through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and other certification schemes to closing the time and finance gap for carbon projects. Gabe also discusses stacking and bundling and the role of technology in improving efficiency of project development. 

In this episode, Zach Knight, co-founder and CEO of Blue Forest Conservation, shares the details of the Forest Resilience Bond (FRB) - a financial structure that delivers outcomes from fire risk mitigation to improved water quality in the Tahoe National Forest, California. 

In this episode, Liv Garfield, CEO of Severn Trent, shares how the water company is approaching biodiversity, and the role of companies more broadly in thinking about becoming nature positive through her role as chief executive of the Council for Sustainable Business. 

What are the opportunities for investors in the coastal and marine space? In this episode, Dorothee Herr joins Helen Avery at GFI Hive to discuss the work of the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility that provides funding to projects and businesses with ocean and coastal restoration at their heart, and the role of blue carbon and standards.

In this episode, Sonya Likhtman of International Federated Hermes discusses why investors are more keenly looking at companies' nature-related impacts and dependencies, and the role of stewardship and engagement. She also explains the importance of COP15, and how the finance and business community is engaging with the development of those global biodiversity targets. 

In this episode Jeremy Leggett shares about his work in nature restoration in the north of Scotland, and how he is viewing investment in natural capital including the role of impact investors, the need for retail crowdfunding, the gap in bank debt and the importance of policies that support communities. 

In this episode, life-long conservationist, Julian Matthews, shares about his new company, Real Wild Estates, that is aiming to help UK land managers restore nature. The company was recently invested in by the L'Oreal Fund for Nature Regeneration - an impact investment fund. 

Environmental impact bonds for water quality, carbon and water quality payments for farmers and forest recreational activities paid by motel lodging taxes - just some of the hugely innovative products developed by Quantified Ventures that guest Eric Letsinger shares on this episode of Financing Nature. Plus, what's next for Quantified Ventures. Join the Green Finance Institute's Helen Avery as she...

In this episode Kevin Bender of The Nature Conservancy talks through the intricacies of the recent Belize debt conversion that included a blue loan, insurance from the IDFC, the issuance of blue bonds to investors, a Conservation Fund, an endowment and, for good measure, parametric insurance. It's a complex deal, but one that is replicable for other countries with sovereign debt trading at a disco...

Trees for Life is on a mission to rewild the Highlands in partnership with community. Alan McDonnell, conservation manager at the charity discusses how private finance and investment such as the sale of carbon credits, and a £2million retail bond via Triodos is helping Trees for Life reach that goal. One to listen to for those looking at investments in ecotourism, carbon or interested in how to en...