1. Linking projects and investors: the Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC)
New, private sector-led financial flows for conservation need to be facilitated and effectively directed towards deserving projects that can deliver impact – which is precisely the ambition of the Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC). CPIC is a multi-stakeholder initiative that focuses on enabling conditions that support a material increase in private, return-seeking investment in conservation. Launched at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress by Cornell University, Credit Suisse, IUCN and Nature Vest/The Nature Conservancy, CPIC has since grown to 90 members – including private investors, conservation NGOs, project developers and public funders.
The coalition facilitates exchanges between project developers and investors to help developers improve their projects – and investors to find them. CPIC also collects and shares lessons learned in the form of conservation investment blueprints, which serve as a basis for scaling and replicating successful business and investment models.
True to its mission of providing a platform for knowledge and partnerships that support private investment into conservation, CPIC has supported and inspired the creation of the Nature+ Accelerator Fund – a unique collaboration of noteworthy global institutions, led by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and Mirova Natural Capital that was launched last November, and supports the development of investable nature projects.
2. Linking biodiversity and climate action: the case of the Landscape Resilience Fund
Nature-based solutions not only safeguard biodiversity, but can deliver greenhouse gas emission reductions in line with the Paris Agreement, cost-effectively and at scale.
Our experience as a globally recognized expert in carbon and project development also shows that biodiversity and climate are much closer linked than previously acknowledged: our planet's forests, for instance, contain more carbon than exploitable oil, gas, and coal deposits combined. Preventing emissions from deforestation and land-use change is just as urgent as transitioning away from fossil fuels.
Natural ecosystems, such as forests and mangroves, are also the lifeline to a quarter of the world's population, many of whom are among the world's poorest. To better protect both people and planet, South Pole has developed a new Landscape Resilience Fund that provides technical assistance and soft loans to small enterprises that preserve ecosystems and adapt agricultural practices to climatic changes The fund has been a 'winner' of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Challenge Program for Adaptation Innovation (through WWF-US as a GEF agency), supported by the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund.
The Landscape Resilience Fund launched in June 2021 by South Pole and WWF, with GEF and Chanel as anchor investors, is a good example of how to connect the dots between biodiversity and climate finance. Through its technical assistance work, it also addresses the typical deal flow issue in nature finance: there is a growing community of investors hungry for nature-based investments that match their interest – but not enough suitable investment opportunities that live up to their risk/return requirements. The Landscape Resilience Fund also provides follow-up loans for investment-ready small businesses that help farmers adapt to climate change and protect vital ecosystems.
With over half of the world's GDP generated by industries that are dependent on nature and its services, there is a growing realisation among the private sector that this is not just an ecological crisis we need to address, but an economic one too. The next step is for forward-thinking private sector leaders to set up more funds similar to the Nature+ Accelerator Fund and the Landscape Resilience Fund ─ and for networks such as CPIC to provide the investment models those funds need.
As CPIC’s platform coordinator and manager of the Landscape Resilience Fund, South Pole looks forward to supporting the important journey of closing the biodiversity finance gap and building a more prosperous future for all.
South Pole is an award-winning project developer and leading advisor on global climate action solutions.
About the author
Martin Stadelmann is South Pole's Senior Director Funds & Platforms. A political scientist (PhD) and economic geographer by training, Martin brings to the table more than 15 years of experience in developing and implementing climate action and sustainable development projects, programmes and funds. He has co-developed major initiatives, such as the Landscape Resilience Fund and the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance. Martin represented the Swiss government in the international climate negotiations and advised several governments, development banks and private companies on climate and nature investments.
