New Release !
Today The Ocean Finance Handbook has been published by Friends of Ocean Action. The handbook is a guide to support an increase in finance flowing towards the sustainable blue economy, offering insights into the range of funding options for sustainable ocean-based industry and marine conservation. Check it out by following this link!
São Tomé & Príncipe Sustainable Finance Plan for Biodiversity and Protected Areas International Expert(s) in Biodiversity & Protected Area Finance.
Birdlife International is looking for a consulting company or an individual consultant to prepare a Sustainable Finance Plan for Biodiversity and Protected Areas for São Tomé & Príncipe that will include a Protected Areas System Finance Needs and Gaps Assessment, Feasibility/Viability Studies, Implementation Design / Revenue management Model and Promotion Plan, considering the regional specificity for the Autonomous Region of Príncipe.
Read more about this opportunity by vising the official posting here.
Photo taken by Pablo Gonzalez (https://bit.ly/2yYpOYt)
The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) has opened its Second Call for Proposals, through the Ecosystem-based Adaptation Facility (the EbA Facility). The EbA Facility is requesting project proposals with a focus on EbA actions that help people adapt to adverse effects of climate change, reduce disaster risk, and build resilient ecosystems and economies.
Applications are accepted until May 31th, 2020. Please consult the CBF website for further details on the application process.
Painting by Nick Kenrick (https://bit.ly/34zygZY)
The Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility (BNCFF) supports the development of sound, investable projects that support coastal habitats and have clear ecosystem service benefits. BNCFF aims, in particular, at demonstrating the feasibility of tapping into the wealth of coastal ecosystems – ‘blue natural capital’ – to create appropriate risk-return profiles for funding providers and to protect and enhance the underlying habitat at the same time.
In order to kickstart blue carbon project initiatives to generate tradeable carbon credits or use other results-based finance schemes, BNCFF offers seed funding to pay for feasibility assessments or early project development.
Read more about this Call for Proposals, or download the Project Submission Form by visiting the Call for Proposals page.
Photo taken by Mike Trimble (https://bit.ly/2RCpqW8)
Watch the Virtual Finals of the Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge!
Every year, the Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge invites teams of graduate students to develop and pitch creative financial approaches to tackle pressing social and environmental challenges. On Friday, April 17, the final 3 teams will pitch live to an international virtual audience, and we invite you to join us.
In 2020, 308 students from 56 countries representing 74 schools proposed 95 innovative finance ideas intended to change the world for the better.
More About the Challenge
The Challenge identifies, empowers, and inspires the next generation of sustainable finance practitioners and connects them with leading industry professionals. Teams of graduate students from around the world are invited to participate. Each team is limited to a maximum of four members, all of whom must be enrolled in a graduate program at the time of the prospectus submission.
2020 Focus on Plastics
In addition to our broader call for proposals inviting creative financial approaches to social and environmental issues, the 2020 Sustainable Investing Challenge is encouraging concepts that target plastic waste. This new-for-2020 opportunity is in keeping with Morgan Stanley’s Plastic Waste Resolution and commitment to facilitating the prevention, reduction and removal of 50 million metrics tons of plastic waste from entering rivers, oceans, landscapes and landfills by 2030. Proposals that address the issue of plastic waste will be eligible for an additional prize of $5,000 in addition to eligibility for the annual top and runner-up prizes for the overall competition.
Register to watch the event here, and read more about the event here!
Photo taken by Jarle Naustvik (https://www.flickr.com/photos/naustvik/3763048882/)
LANDSCALE is looking for pioneers in landscape sustainability to test v0.2 of the assessment framework which consists of a set of criteria and indicators to track landscape sustainability outcomes across a range of issues including environmental, socioeconomic, governance, and production. The new version of the assessment framework will be even more practical and relevant, thanks to feedback received in our first public consultation and field testing to date by our existing pilots.
The application deadline to become an Innovator Pilot is May 1st, 2020.
More information is available at their website or on this downloadable flyer.
Take Part in the Biodiversity Guidance Consultation offered by the Natural Capital Coalition.
Running until May 1st 2020, this consultation opportunity supports businesses in incorporating biodiversity into their decision making. The guidance has been developed working alongside leaders at Cambridge Conservation Initiative, together with front running business. Please use the opportunity of the public consultation to contribute and help us all to conserve and enhance the natural world on which we all depend.
The intention is for this Guidance to form an online tool. However, during this consultation, the Guidance is presented as a series of separate documents on the online platform Collaborase.
To take part in the consultation you will need to register for each Guidance document following the links below:
Introduction and Decision Tree
Further information on how to take part in the consultation can be found here.
Additional Resources:
Consultation process and Collaborase instructions
Any questions can be directed to consultation@naturalcapitalcoalition.org
Posted: March 12, 2020
The two Conservation Trust Funds (CTFs) projects are well on their way. Recently the consulting team from Wolfs Company and Aligning Visions sent a comprehensive survey to just over 100 CTFs – the 50% response rate was exceptional, and has produced a robust body of data that will, along with interviews, inform the 10-Year Review of CTFs. We extend tremendous thanks to the CTFs that took the time to complete the survey and contribute to this process. The updates to the Practice Standards for CTFs are also moving ahead. The CTF Projects Task Force will review a complete draft of the Standards in the second half of March.
Starting in mid-April, the draft will be circulated to the Environmental Funds Working Group (EFWG) for review and comment. Anyone who wants to participate in the review process is encouraged to join the EFWG.
We plan to launch the updated Practice Standards and the 10-Year Review at the CFA’s Pavilion at the World Conservation Congress in June.
The CFA recently closed (Jan 31, 2020) a call for proposals for its first round of virtual incubation. The CFA Incubator will award 5 subgrants of $25,000 each and mentorship support to the top 5 proposals received. Announcement of the successful proposals will be made next week. Many thanks to our partners and communications channels as well as all of the amazing conservation finance entrepreneurs whom applied. We received 75 fascinating and inspiring applications from a wide geography (42 countries) and diverse organizations with over a quarter being led by women. The overwhelming positive response to this Call combined with the quality of the proposals received has encouraged us to expand the mentoring support for projects to an additional 10 proposals. These additional 10 chosen projects will be supported through CFA Staff and Member mentors. All 15 projects accepted into the CFA Incubator will have the opportunity to present their ideas during the World Conservation Congress at the CFA Pavilion. We are very excited to begin the mentorship process!
If you are interested in being a mentor and are not part of the CFA Innovation Working Group, please join the Working Group via this link.
The following is a quick summary of the applications received:
The diversity of applicant organizations, their geographic distribution and ideas that they contain are truly representative of the CFA membership and indicate the growing interest in the CFA from conservation finance practitioners. We are pleased to see such a positive response and believe that we can build a solid program that will stimulate additional conservation finance activities. The CFA Incubator Technical Review Committee is currently reviewing all applications using the previously agreed upon scoring criteria. Recipients will be announced shortly.
The CFA is currently seeking additional technical and financial partnerships for the CFA Incubator, building from our current partnerships that include:
· Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM)
· MAVA Foundation
· Conservation International Ventures
· Posaidon
Please contact David Meyers, Executive Director of the CFA for further information.
Again, if you are interested in mentoring one of these amazing concepts but are not yet part of the Innovation Working Group, please join the Working Group by visiting the Innovation WG page on the CFA website or contacting the Secretariat.
The Director, Product Development, Debt Conversions will report to the Deputy Managing Director, Blue Bonds in NatureVest. Debt Conversions involve negotiating the restructuring of a country’s sovereign debt using investment capital and credit enhancement to create funding to finance marine conservation and related activities in the country.
The Director’s role shall be to lead the development and implementation of debt conversions primarily in the Africa region, but potentially in other regions across the globe where Debt Conversions opportunities can be identified. S/he/they will engage in all aspects of capital-raising including the soliciting of potential investors and donors, and the management of investor relationships. Key responsibilities shall also include: identifying and negotiating key partnership arrangements, developing financial models (including the incorporation of blended finance and credit enhancement mechanisms), performing due diligence and risk assessments / mitigation, developing internal and external materials, and structuring and closing the deals.
More information on the position and how to apply is available on The Nature Conservancy’s website.
All applications must be submitted in the system prior to 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 14, 2020.
