CFA WEBINAR: DEBT CONVERSIONS

Please join the us for a webinar on debt conversions (also known as debt for climate and nature swaps), a finance instrument that allows countries to reduce their national debt and reallocate funds for sustainable development and conservation projects.

Date: November 16th
Time: 11:00am EST
RSVP: Required

During the webinar, we will provide a brief overview of this instrument and some lessons learned from previous projects. We will also engage the authors of the recently released paper "Tackling the Triple Crisis: Using debt swaps to address debt, climate and nature loss post-COVID19" along with a Q&A session moderated by CFA's Executive Director, David Meyers. 

Miss the Webinar? View it below!

Please join the us for a webinar on debt conversions (also known as debt for climate and nature swaps), a finance instrument that allows countries to reduce ...

Meet our panelists

Paul Steele - International Institute for Environment and Development

Paul Steele, chief economist for IIED, is focused on the linkages between environment, climate and poverty reduction and has more than 20 years' experience working for international organisations, including the United Nations Development Programme, the European Union, the World Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Sejal Patel - International Institute for Environment and Development

Sejal Patel is an environmental economist who has worked in public policy analysis, climate finance and governance, and climate-resilient development. Her work concentrates on bridging international, national and local level climate policy responses and resourcing

Kevin Bender - The Nature Conservancy

Kevin Bender is TNC’s Acting Deputy Managing Director, NatureVest. He leads TNC’s initiatives to finance conservation and climate adaptation via the structuring of sovereign debt conversions globally.

Launch of CFA's "Conservation Trust Funds 2020: Global Vision, Local Action"

CFA WEBINAR: LAUNCH OF THE CFA’S “CONSERVATION TRUST FUNDS 2020: GLOBAL VISION, LOCAL ACTION”

Date: November 12th
Time: 11am -12:30pm EST

Miss the Launch? Check it out here!

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Please join us on Thursday, November 12 for the long-awaited launch of "Conservation Trust Funds 2020: Global Vision, Local Action,"- a comprehensive analysis of Conservation Trust Funds (CTFs) over the past decade and into the future.
 
During this 90-minute webinar, authors Paquita Bath, Amilcar Guzmán-Valladares, Viviana Luján-Gallegos, and Katy Mathias will share key findings from the report.

Thierry Renaud from the MAVA Foundation and Bryna Griffin from BirdLife, donors to the project, will share some remarks.

David Meyers will moderate the panel discussion 
 

Meet our panelists:

Natalia Arango, Executive Director, Fondo Acción 
Scott Lampman, Director, Tropical Forest Conservation Act Secretariat, USAID
Sean Nazerali, Director of Innovative Financing, BIOFUND

This 10-year review was produced as a project of CFA's Environmental Funds Working Group, by a consulting team of Wolfs Company and Aligning Visions, in partnership with a highly engaged CFA Task Force. RedLAC and CAFÉ were key project partners.
 
The study was made possible through funding from Asociación Costa Rica por Siempre, Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM), Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat, Master Capital LLC, MAVA Foundation, Trillion Trees (including BirdLife International, Wildlife Conservation Society and WWF-UK), and WWF-US.

CFA WEBINAR: VALUING NATURE CONSERVATION

Date: 10.27.2020

Please join us as we welcome Robert Wilson and Duko Hopman, co-authors of the newly released report “Valuing Nature Conservation”, produced by McKinsey & Company. During this webinar, hosted by the CFA, our guests will present the main findings of the report. The presentation will be followed by an audience Q&A session moderated by CFA ED David Meyers. 

The report builds on existing data sets and methodologies, as well as quantifying costs, benefits and other tradeoffs of conserving 30 percent of the planet by 2030.

We strongly encourage you to download and read the report - follow the link below!

Please view the recording below.

Please join us as we welcome Robert Wilson and Duko Hopman, co-authors of the newly released report "Valuing Nature Conservation", produced by McKinsey & Compan...

Investment Outlook for Environmental Funds in a Post-COVID World

INVESTMENT OUTLOOK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDS IN A POST-COVID WORLD

As members and friends of the CFA and RedLAC networks, you are cordially invited to join a virtual panel discussion on the investment outlook for Environmental Funds in the time of COVID-19.  

July 21st, 11AM - 12PM EDT

In this moderated discussion, investment advisors from UBS, FINAD GmbH, and JP Morgan Chase will share their perspectives on the investment outlook for Environmental Funds (Conservation Trust Funds) in the context of the current COVID-19 global pandemic.   

Missed the webinar? View it below!

Sponsored by the CFA Environmental Funds Working Group CFA - RedLAC - The Nature Conservancy

Panelists:

Andrew B. Peake, CFA

Managing Director – UBS International, New York

Andrew joined UBS International in 2013 with over 30 years of experience in financial services, primarily in private wealth management, specializing in managed investment portfolios for ultra-high net worth clients and institutions.  His regional focus includes China, Europe, Latin America and the United States.

He began his career in 1989 in various portfolio management positions at Offitbank and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.  In 1994, Andrew was recruited by JP Morgan as a Senior Portfolio Manager, where he was responsible for $2B in discretionary global balanced portfolios.  He was also a member of the Trust and Investment Committee for Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of the Bahamas.  In 1998 Andrew was recruited by Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, which deals exclusively with that firm's ultra-high net worth clients.

Andrew has two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania - a BA Magna Cum Laude in Chinese History and East Asian Studies and a MA in East Asian Studies.  His Master’s thesis analyzed and discussed the future of Hong Kong.  He also earned a MBA in Finance from New York University and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.  Andrew is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has lived, worked and traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America.  He is an avid sports enthusiast and competed for a place in the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team.  Andrew is actively involved in mentorship programs for students from Asia and is often asked to speak on cultural matters pertaining to China and US business relations. Additionally, Andrew serves on the Financial Advisor Advisory Council a group of Financial Advisors that represent the 6,000 Financial Advisors with senior management in the US. 

Christian Tury

Chief Investment Officer, Managing Director — FINAD GmbH, Vienna

As a manager in a multi family office, we are all-rounders with a very in-depth understanding of a wide range of financial operations. Assuming responsibility is an obligation, which is why we also invest lots of time in our younger colleagues.

I studied sociology and political science at the University of Vienna, and European Studies at the Danube University in Krems. I always wanted to work in the financial sector. I was approved as a student of business studies at the Vienna University of Economics and Business when I encountered Warren Buffet in Omaha, Nebraska, for the first time. A speculative application to Chase Manhattan Bank made the dream reality. 

Juan Etinger

Managing Director, Global Head of Institutional Portfolio Solutions, J.P. Morgan

Juan Etinger is a Managing Director and Global Head of Institutional Portfolio Solutions. The group focuses on designing and managing single and multi-asset portfolios for endowments, foundations and institutional families.

Previously, Mr. Etinger was Senior Portfolio Manager overseeing the firm’s offshore Global Access Portfolios, a suite of global multi-asset investment funds that combine traditional asset classes with alternatives, structured investments and portfolio insurance strategies. Additionally, Mr. Etinger served as member of the investment team for the J.P. Morgan Access UCITS Funds, a multi-asset family of open-ended, offshore mutual funds tailored for international clients.

Mr. Etinger was a member of the J.P. Morgan Investment Strategy Team for over six years, responsible for development of investment strategy, including tactical and strategic asset allocation, for over $600 billion in client assets. In addition, he was a member of the Hedge Fund Advisory Council and due diligence’s Investment Review Committee.

Mr. Etinger holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (Booth), where he graduated with honors with a concentration in Quantitative Finance and Entrepreneurship. He also holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Buenos Aires. He lives in New York with his wife and three children.

Sponsored by the Environmental Funds Working Group

A partner event with:

Coronavirus and the Conservation Finance Community

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Missed the webinar? View the recording below

This is the third webinar in our Coronavirus and Conservation Finance webinar series. In this webinar we will dive into the benefits of Public Private Partne...

The next Coronavirus and the Conservation Finance Community online discussion will dive into the benefits of Public-Private Partnerships as a robust conservation finance mechanism in the time of Coronavirus. Join us as our panelists discuss the resiliency of Public-Private Partnerships in times of economic and social unrest. The call will involve presentations from the panelists for 30 minutes and then a Q&A session for the remainder of the hour.

The panelists for the discussion are as follows:

ERIC CAREY

Executive Director of the Bahamas National Trust (BNT)

ELEANOR CARTER

Deputy Director of the Chumbe Island Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Zanzibar, Tanzania; and Founder and Director of Sustainable Solutions International Consulting.

NICOLAS PASCAL

Director of Blue finance

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About the Coronavirus and Conservation Finance Community

The CFA has recently introduced a new series of online discussions regarding the impact of COVID-19 on conservation finance, titled “Coronavirus and the Conservation Finance Community”.

To date, two online discussions have been held. The first discussion focused generally on CTF’s, with representatives from CAFÉ and RedLAC discussing how the pandemic was impacting operations, finance flows, and what the future could look like. The second discussion identified specific conservation finance tools that are viewed as most robust in the face of the crisis. A detailed recap of the two online discussions can be found here.

Following the taxonomy of conservation finance mechanisms outlined in the CFA white paper “Conservation Finance: A Framework”, three tools were identified: Public-Private Partnerships, Blended Finance, and Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Development.

The CFA would like to continue the discussion by holding three additional online calls, focusing on each of the finance mechanisms in turn. 

Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility

Please join us for another very insightful CFA Webinar, hosted by our Marine and Coastal Finance Working Group. The webinar will feature the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility, and will focus on recently released report : Blue Infrastructure Finance: A new approach, integrating Nature-based Solutions for coastal resilience
Please find a short description of the paper, and make sure to RSVP to receive the link to the webinar.

All coastal and marine ecosystems are critical to human well-being and global biodiversity. But urban and rural infrastructure developments are having a heavy negative impact on these systems, and it is increasing over time.
 
Habitats like tidal mangrove forests, seagrasses and coral reefs, can help to make infrastructure investments better, more resilient and financially more attractive. These are known as Nature-based Solutions (NbS). Financial mechanisms are needed to support a shift away from infrastructure investments with unclear or negative impacts on nature towards those providing clean water and energy, flood and erosion control, etc. The developments must also preserve and enhance their coastal and marine environments.
 
We present new finance solutions integrating Blue Natural Capital, a critical tool for this transition.

Speakers: 
D. Herr (IUCN, Moderator)
S. Crooks (Silvestrum)
T. Thiele (Global Ocean Trust)

PiC (Preserve in Community)

Please join us for another very informative Webinar sponsored by the Innovation Working Group!

We are excited to host PiC, or Preserve in Community, a platform that provides technology to finance conservation projects in protected areas. 

Please find a short description of the technology platform below, and make sure to RSVP to receive the link to the presentation. 

"Our mission is to change the mindset of traditional conservation financing, with a B2B – B2C business model and digital tools to implement a financing strategy that includes corporations, local companies, NGOs, government and citizens.

PiC powers personalized matching platforms for more than 15 conservation NGOs, who together manage over 500.000 hectares of protected areas. PiC also allows companies to structure unique carbon footprint compensation programs and NGOs receive 100% of the financing.

At the end of 2017, PiC launched its new matching platform. The President of the Chilean Business Association, The Minister of the Environment of Chile and the Executive Director of WCS Chile hosted the event.

Learn more at: https://www.picparks.com/"

Please find the presentation in pdf format as well as a recording of the webinar below:

Please join us for another very informative webinar, this time discussing the conservation finance technology platform, PiC!

Presentation

Coronavirus and the Conservation Finance Community

Join us for the launch of our Online Discussion Series

“Coronavirus and the Conservation Finance Community”,

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Thank you to those who attended this first of many Online Discussions! Please find the recorded discussion below.

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has had far reaching impacts on the global stage. Ranging from the healthcare sector to the global economy, and from climate ...

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The first discussion was held on Monday, April 20th at 10:00AM EST!

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has had far reaching impacts on the global stage. Ranging from the healthcare sector to the global economy, and from climate change to our own interpersonal daily lives as we adjust to this ‘new normal’, the impacts of the novel coronavirus will surely be felt for the coming years.

Members of the CFA have proposed an online discussion to explore how COVID-19 is impacting local, national and global efforts towards conservation finance – the first discussion will focus on Conservation Trust Funds but can cover related topics such as PA Finance.  Some of the questions we will discuss include:

- What are CTFs doing to adapt to the current situation? Is anyone using their “Emergency Funds” as cash to help out?

- What are the lessons we have already learned going forward? Are we learning new ways of working and of communicating?

- Can (or should) we re-allocate priorities to reinforce fragile health care delivery systems?

- With no tourist income, most social projects on hold, and normal fundraising interrupted, or being redirected, what options should we be preparing for?

- What can we see as opportunities (or silver-linings) in this crisis? Clearly the closing of wildlife markets in China is a big benefit but what else should we be pushing for?

Join us as we feature a panel of colleagues to discuss these and other related issues! 

Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) with Angelique Pouponneau

The Conservation Finance Alliance’s Marine and Coastal Finance Working Group recently hosted a webinar with Angelique Pouponneau, the CEO of SeyCCAT as she discusses how the Seychelles leveraged a debt conversion and the world’s first Blue Bond to support the conservation of 30 percent of Seychelles' vast marine territory. Join us as SeyCCAT’s CEO discusses the structure of the Conservation Trust Fund, execution progress and key stakeholders involved in achieving its mission. Enormous interest is growing on the opportunities presented by both blue bonds and debt conversions especially for large ocean states such as Seychelles. The presentation is followed by an active Q&A section. 

A recording of the webinar is available below:

The CFA's Marine and Coastal Finance Working Group recently hosted a webinar with Angelique Pouponneau, the CEO of The Seychelles Conservation and Climate Ad...

Biodiversity and Your Business

Date: February 13, 2020

Hosted by The Land Accelerator, over 60 entrepreneurs joined for a conversation featuring ways to ensure your company is doing its best to respect and promote biodiversity. Participants included CFA Executive Director David Meyers, Willemijn De Iongh, manager at Commonland, and Joel Houdet, principal at Biodiversity Protocol. These experts shared techniques to incorporate biodiversity into business operations, how to consider biodiversity when planning land use change associated with expanding a business’s footprint, and how to collect and report on biodiversity impact figures to customers and investors.

One of the many takeaways is that there are many routes towards supporting biodiversity, and as entrepreneurs are trying to crack the code for creating a financially and environmentally sustainable business, each project around the globe will have a unique approach to building diversity.

A recording of the webinar is available below.

A research and policy agenda for establishing a “Blue Fund” for the conservation and restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems in Costa Rica

Date: January 15th, 2020

Time: 12pm EST

Costa Rica has ten times more marine area than terrestrial area, with a variety of marine and coastal ecosystems that provide valuable goods and services to society at many scales. Nevertheless, these ecosystems have been significantly degraded by unsustainable economic activities mainly because of the public good nature of marine and coastal ecosystem services. They are undervalued or not valued at all under current markets, and lack the appropriate institutions and mechanisms to internalize their value in order to better manage them. As a solution to this research and policy gap, the creation of the Blue Fund is proposed, a new PES scheme focused on marine and coastal ecosystems with the goal of conserving, enhancing and restoring them. To build this new scheme, a six-step process was designed.

A recording of the video is available below as well as on our Youtube Channel.

Please email the secretariat to request a copy of the powerpoint presentation (due to file size).

Results of 2018 Conservation Trust Fund Investment Survey

Katy Mathias, co-author of the Conservation Trust Investment Survey (CTIS) shared findings from the annual CTIS study for calendar year 2018. In addition, Katy shared some preliminary information from the forthcoming multi-year study of CTF investment data, drawing on the CTIS project's 13 years of data.

The recording is available on our Youtube Channel

Project Finance for Permanence in Peru

Date: November 12th, 2019

About 60% of Peruvian territory is covered by the Amazon rainforest, more than in any other country. With increasing pressures of deforestation, wildfires and land use change affecting the 38 protected areas in the Amazon region, the Peruvian government and conservation donors recognized the need for bold action to ensure the conservation of this important ecosystem. Partnering with the World Wildlife Fund, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and Andes Amazon Fund, the Peruvian government applied and adapted the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) approach to ensure sustainable financing and permanent conservation of 16.7 million hectares of the Peruvian Amazon. The PFP approach built institutional capacity and leveraged the power of a single closing agreement to secure commitments for US$ 140 million from private and public sources for a shared conservation goal. Join Carolin Planitzer from WWF and Cindy Vergel from the Protected Areas National Service - SERNANP to discuss the lessons learned from developing this large-scale initiative.

The full recording of the presentation is available on our Youtube Channel.

BIOFUND Presentation - Funding for the Future

On October 24th, 2019 a group of CFA members and conservation finance professionals met in Washington D.C. for a presentation by BIOFUND (Mozambique’s Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity) on the challenges of financing Marine Protected Areas in Mozambique. The presenters focused on how they are blending traditional project finance with earmarked endowments, biodiversity offsets, and other innovative finance mechanisms to support the Primeiras and Segundas Reserve. Presenters included Luis Honwana, Executive Director; Sean Nazerali, Director for Innovative Financing; and Anabela Rodrigues, V.P. of the Board of Directors.

A recording of the event is available here.

Blue Oceans Partners: Harnessing the power of innovation to restore the health of our ocean

Date: October 16th 2019

Time: 12pm EDT

Addressing ocean challenges with traditional solutions, many of them infrastructure-based, requires trillions of dollars that seem overwhelmingly difficult to mobilize. One complementary approach is to support innovations that can change the rules of the game, transforming the very ways we produce, consume and distribute. Such innovations have the potential to deliver competitive market returns to investors. They can therefore mobilize large amounts of private capital to scale and address the crisis rapidly.

Christian Lim, co-founder of Blue Oceans Partners, will present examples of such innovations, ready to scale now, explaining how they can achieve system level impact for the ocean. Examples will include alternative feeds for aquaculture, sustainable aquaculture technologies, solutions to ghost nets, solutions to plastic microfiber pollution, technologies that enhance the efficiency of Marine Protected Areas, and innovations that enable the transition to a circular plastics economy. Christian will discuss Blue Ocean Partners, the investment platform he has launched to invest in innovations that help regenerate ocean health, including solutions to the challenges of overfishing and plastic pollution.

A recording of the webinar is available on our Youtube channel and the powerpoint presentation is available for download.

The Climate is Changing - So Should your Conservation Investment Strategies

Hosted by Elizabeth Tully and Molly Cross of WCS, this webinar took place on July 18th 2019 at 10am EDT.

As conservation funders, we need to ensure that our financial investments remain durable and sustainable in the long-term given the impact of climate change. As conservation practitioners, we need to ensure our actions are targeted enough to help our conservation targets persist through climate changes. Findings from WCS's new report co-written by scientists and funders for conservation funders, "Managing Risks to Conservation Investments Through Climate Adaptation: A Practical Guide for Funders" reaches both audiences. It is an incredible product of a strong scientist-funder partnership that spells out how to "climate-proof" a portfolio for long-lasting, wise investments. The report also helps practitioners who are already conducting adaptation work articulate the ways in which they are valuable stewards of limited conservation dollars. The findings will no doubt resonate with funders with a conservation mission seeking to make lasting investments.

The Guide for Funders is available for download here.

A full recording of the webinar can be found on our Youtube Channel here.

Due to file size, please contact our Secretariat if you would like a copy of the Powerpoint presentation.

Financing Ocean Conservation via Debt Conversions

On May 24th at 10am EDT, CFA hosted a webinar with Robert Weary of TNC’s NatureVest to discuss an ambitious $40 million initiative to promote ocean conservation as recently announced by The Nature Conservancy. The initiative is based on delivering debt conversions to up to 20 countries over the next five years. The plan, which was selected from more than 1,500 Audacious Project applicants, has already secured more than $23 million in funding from various donors out of the $40 million TNC ultimately requires to unlock $1.6 billion toward marine conservation.
 
A full recording of the session is available on our Youtube Channel. Due to the size of Powerpoint file, please email our secretariat to request a copy of the presentation.

Fighting Fire with Finance; Introducing the Forest Resilience Bond

On May 9th, 2019, Zach Knight of Blue Forest Conservation hosted a webinar discussing their new Forest Resilience Bonds. Blue Forest Conservation is committed to creating sustainable financial solutions to pressing environmental challenges. We recently launched our first innovative finance mechanism, the Forest Resilience Bond, in partnership with the US Forest Service, the World Resources Institute, and Encourage Capital in the Tahoe National Forest in California in 2018. Instead of relying on budget-constrained government agencies, the Forest Resilience Bond deploys investor capital to finance the upfront costs of proactive forest restoration in an effort to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and associated carbon emissions as well while protecting water resources. Investors earn returns through cost-sharing contracts with the US Forest Service, utilities, and state governments that benefit from the restoration treatments. In addition to wildfire, air quality, and water benefits, the Forest Resilience Bond creates jobs, protects communities, and makes forests more resilient to climate change while offering competitive returns to investors.

Download the Presentation

View a recording of the Webinar

Finance Tools for Coral Reef Conservation

The authors of the CFA publication, "Finance Tools for Coral Reef Conservation: A Guide" presented highlights of their paper in two webinars on February 26th, and facilitated discussion among webinar participants. Venkat Iyer, Katy Mathias, David Meyers, Melissa Walsh and Ray Victurine highlighted several of the finance mechanisms that are explored in the Guide, discussed the importance of business planning as the first step in the process, highlighted several case studies and examples, and shared some conclusions. 

Download Presentation

Photo Credit: HANNES KLOSTERMANN / CORAL REEF IMAGE BANK

Caribbean-Pacific Alliance

On February 6, 2019, Zdenka Piskulich, Marcello Hernandez and Maria Jose Gonzalez presented a CFA webinar on the Caribbean-Pacific Alliance and Blue Challenge.

The Caribbean-Pacific Alliance is a unique collaborative platform to address shared marine and coastal conservation issues in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Caribbean oceans. The Alliance is composed of PACIFICO (a platform of four Conservation Trust Funds in the Tropical Eastern Pacific), the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) Fund, and the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund. Together, they encompass two oceans, 16 countries, 4 million km2 and 5 World Heritage Sites, and through the Alliance, they have a structure to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration. One of the Caribbean-Pacific Alliance's first initiatives is Blue Challenge, an incubator to build the pipeline of investable projects in the conservation space through technical assistance. 

The recording of the webinar, and the Powerpoint presentation, are available below.

A second webinar in Spanish on the same content will be held in the coming weeks.