In this first episode of Financing Nature's COP27 Special Series from the Green Finance Institute and United Nations Environment Programme, we explore how the finance sector can reduce deforestation and finance reforestation, and frame up what we need from global leaders at COP27. Helen Avery speaks with Champions Finance Lead, Sagarika Chatterjee, about the work of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and global commitments and solutions, and José Pugas, head of responsible investments and engagement at JGP Asset Management in Brazil shares with Jessica Smith the work of IFACC (Innovative Finance for the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco) and the needs of the Global South.

On October 5th, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Green Finance Institute (GFI) will launch a five-episode special series of Financing Nature in the lead up to COP27. Each episode will showcase a project on the ground in the Global South, and interviews with leading figures in the world of finance and nature to discuss what we need from our global governments in Egypt this November.  

The Environmental Farmers Group (EFG) is a new co-operative for UK farmers - led by farmers - that collectively trades natural capital. It is already securing trades for phosphate reduction and employs an equalisation model so that farmers of all sizes in the co-operative benefit, and to ensure that landscape scale environmental improvements are being made. Chris Sparrow, Co-Founder Director of EFG, joins us this week to walk through the model and why it's gaining increasing attraction from farmers across the UK.  

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 other codes across the UK. In this episode, he shares his thinking on the next steps around governance infrastructure for the emerging UK environmental markets. 

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 first listing. 

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 programme chair of the Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials, shares more about work of the bank and broader financial sector ambitions for a nature-positive future.