Financing Nature

In this final episode of our COP27 Special Series with the United Nations Environment Programme, we are joined from UNEP's Ecosystems Division by Susan Gardner, Head of the Ecosystems Division and Ivo Mulder, Head of the  Climate Finance Unit. Susan and Ivo wrap up the series by sharing what they hope to see happen at COP27 and the actions we collectively need to take to ensure that nature restoration and nature-based solutions receive the investment they urgently require. 

Over 70% of the planet's surface is cover with water, yet when it comes to protecting and restoring oceans health, finance is sorely missing. Indeed, only 0.01% of all climate finance is invested into marine and coastal nature based solutions. In this fourth episode of the Financing Nature COP27 Special Series with UNEP, Karen Sack, executive director at the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, and Yabanex Batista, Deputy Head of the UN's Global Team for the Global Coral Reef Fund, discuss the role of coastal communities and our seas in climate mitigation and adaptation, and what we need to see to mobilise greater investment. 

Africa, host to COP27, is also host to 30% of the world's biodiversity. It is also a continent on an accelerated economic growth trajectory. This episode, guests Kaddu Sebunya, CEO, African Wildlife Foundation and David Cheboryot, Director of Entrepreneurship Centres – Africa - E4Impact Foundation share how economic growth, community development and conservation can go hand in hand, and how private finance and the private sector can play their role. Finally, the guests discuss their hopes for COP27 from governments. 

In our second episode of Financing Nature's special series with UNEP, Andrew Deutz, Director of Global Policy, Institutions and Conservation Finance at The Nature Conservancy shares the need to mobilise government and development bank aid into nature restoration projects, and the role of guarantees and insurance, and Yasmine Sagita, Chief of People, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at rubber company, PT Royal Lestari Utama (RLU) discusses the Tropical Landscape Finance Facility (TLFF) which was funded by the world's first sustainability bond. 

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.