As one of CFA’s incubator enterprises, Carbon Yield has been developing an innovative approach to marketing carbon stored within regenerative farms. Along with their partners at Hudson Carbon and Earthrise Alliance, Carbon Yield is excited to introduce the Hudson Carbon Marketplace that features place-based, natural offsets that tie climate action to specific farm parcels managed by exceptional carbon farmers. The marketplace helps differentiate high quality, regenerative agriculture offsets, earning farmers enough carbon revenue to overcome barriers to regenerative practices. The platform also integrates with e-commerce partners to associate retail carbon sales with climate positive products. Carbon Yield is excited to present the project as they prepare to launch with offsets generated on a 2,000 acre regenerative organic farm. As carbon market veterans, soil science researchers, and environmental entrepreneurs, their team is also looking forward to connecting with CFA’s members and allies for a broad conversation about how to overcome barriers to climate impact on working lands.
CFA Webinar: Practice Standards for Conservation Trust Funds
As a follow-up to the publication of the 2020 edition of the Practice Standards for Conservation Trust Funds, the CFA is pleased to announce a series of monthly webinars exploring the Standards in more depth. Each webinar, to be held on the third Tuesday of the month, will focus on specific content of the 2020 edition (Core Areas and/or Cross-Cutting Themes). The webinars will be hosted by the CFA's Environmental Funds Working Group.
The first webinar, held on Tuesday, 19 January, introduced key changes in the 2020 edition.
Vital Sites: The Journey to Marseille
Building up to the Protected Planet Pavilion at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France (to be rescheduled in 2021 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic), the Vital Sites: The Journey to Marseille series showcases protected and conserved areas as effective and positive for the people and the planet.
Ethical Finance 2020
Ethical Finance 2020 (EF2020) convened the world’s foremost business, political, civic and social leaders for a virtual summit to network, share, co-develop and shape a fairer, more sustainable financial system. The annual Ethical Finance summit is organised by the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), which coordinates a series of programmes to promote finance for positive change.
It is now widely recognised that the financial services sector has a fundamental role to play in delivering universally supported targets such as the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, as well as supporting economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite its potential, the current financial system can be a cause – rather than a solution – to some of the pressing challenges our planet and its people currently face. Ethical Finance 2020 will explore how the finance services can support inclusive economic growth without depleting natural resources or leaving anyone behind.
European Business & Nature Summit (EBNS) 2020
The EBNS should serve as a launchpad to strengthen the growing movement of businesses that consider nature as part of the solution to economic wellbeing. In line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, participating businesses (including SMEs) and financial institutions shared their practical experience in how to integrate biodiversity and natural capital within their business models, how to measure and reduce their impacts and dependencies on nature, and how to make nature part of the solution to solve current challenges.
BIOPAMA - Conservation Trust Funds (featuring CFA's Katy Mathias as panelist member)
Following the successful launch of the report Closing the gap - Financing and resourcing of protected and conserved areas, BIOPAMA and Conservation Capital hosted an online event on Conservation Trust Fund as a means to increase revenue and improve management efficiency.
CFA WEBINAR: VALUING NATURE CONSERVATION
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 of the webinar below!
Cases in Conservation Finance: Case 4 - Kinship Fellows
It has become increasingly clear that because of the pandemic and the climate crisis, because of over-population, because of its scarcity, and because of its misuse, water will likely be the dominant element in our future. It is an opinion shared by many, even the World Economic Forum has put water scarcity as a one of the top global risks since 2014! Water will be the source of conflict, it will be a major problem, and it could even lead to large economic dislocations. So how do we address or solve this problem? Yes, changing use patterns will be a part of the answer. Yes, we will need new technological innovation. But if the past is any indication, we will also have to get better at managing the ecosystems that make up our watersheds.
Biodiversity: What are the Pathways for Priority Sectors?
During this webinar, the PRI will reveal findings from a report on Investor Action on Biodiversity, and the World Economic Forum will provide insight into research on The Future of Nature and Business. Hear from experts on drivers for impact; transformation pathways; company expectations and how investors can reduce biodiversity risk and increase positive real-world outcomes through stewardship and engagement.
This is the second in a series of webinars on biodiversity organized jointly with the UNEP FI in the run-up to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties (COP15) in 2021.
Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Financing Gap
Watch the virtual event that accompanied the launch of the Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Financing Gap report launched by the Paulson Institute, The Nature Conservatory and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability
CCI - CBF Week Nature-Based Solutions for our Caribbean Future
Since 2016, the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) and the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) have been holding joint annual meetings, called CCI-CBF Week. This year’s meetings represented the culmination of Phase II of the CCI, which was launched at the CCI Summit in 2013.
Join us, as we:
Celebrated CCI’s achievements since the launch of CCI in 2008.
Recognized the accomplishments and challenges in the region in the areas of effective management, sustainable financing, climate adaptation, and implementation of a nature-based economy, and identify necessary actions to ensure healthy ecosystems.
Identified partners and opportunities for developing the way forward for biodiversity conservation, protected area management and nature-based economic development in the Caribbean.
The Rising Blue Dollar: Sustainable Ocean Financing for Marine Protection
Marine Protected Areas often suffer from inadequate and unsustainable funding sources, with over 60% globally of existing MPAs having reported inadequate budgets for basic management and compliance. The Commonwealth has a huge stake in the future of our ocean, together covering more than one-third (35%) of national marine waters globally.
This webinar:
• Provides an overview of the sustainable financing concept for the effective management of MPAs
• Showcases good and best practice case studies from two project sites
• Elaborates on how financial resilience needs to be built in, to move forward in a post COVID-19 world
Nature-based solutions and the post-COVID recovery (WWF)
On a recent webinar organised by WWF and the OECD, speakers discussed how nature-based solutions can be part of recovery efforts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature-based solutions must be included in post-COVID-19 economic recovery packages if the world is to tackle growing unemployment, inequality and environmental degradation, according to the head of the OECD.
Building Business Resilience: How collective leadership will reverse nature loss
On 15 June, Business for Nature launched their Call to Action with the support of a number of CEOs. The purpose of the Call to Action is to demonstrate business momentum on nature. They will use this powerful collective business voice to call on governments to adopt ambitious nature policies to reverse nature loss this decade. If you're a business or company, sign up to our Call to Action and share pubicly or with your business networks. We've developed a Communications Toolkit to help you. If you're not a business or a company then you can still promote the Call to Action on social media, via your website and through newsletters using the resources we developed, including social media posts and video content.
Beyond Divestment: Climate Change Strategies for Endowments
Beyond Divestment: Climate Change Strategies for Endowments
Date: Thursday, July 9th, 2020 1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
University and college endowments and foundations face continued calls to divest from fossil fuels. While the merits of divestment are debated, questions remain as to what a robust strategy to manage climate-related risks and opportunities looks like, and what actions should be employed – from stewardship to climate scenario analysis and its implications for portfolio construction and asset allocation.
This joint PRI and IEN webinar will explore the investment implications of climate change and highlight tools and resources endowments can leverage to develop a thoughtful climate strategy. You will hear from several endowments on the multipronged approaches they’ve implemented to manage climate-related risks, invest in opportunities and align endowment investments with organizational missions.
Speakers include:
Kate Murtagh, Chief Compliance Officer and the Managing Director for Sustainable Investing, Harvard Management Company
Daren M. Smith, President and Chief Investment Officer, University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation
Jeff Mindlin, Chief Investment Officer at Arizona State University Enterprise Partners
Sagarika Chatterjee, Director of Climate Change, PRI
Alice DonnaSelva, Managing Director, IEN
Investing in Innovation and Blue Nature: A World Oceans Day webinar
In recognition of UN World Oceans Day 2020, we are delighted to invite you to join us for a webinar ‘Investing in innovation and blue nature’. The webinar, co-hosted by Credit Suisse, Ocean Unite, Responsible Investor and the EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries will explore the initiatives supporting the ambition of protecting 30% of the Ocean by 2030. Themes discussed will include: the science behind regenerating marine biodiversity, how to reduce financial risk from degrading ocean health and build resilience to change, and the critical involvement of the financial and investor communities to achieve results.
Driving a Green and Resilient Recovery (WWF)
WWF and OECD have joined forces to organise three high-level dialogues aimed at informing the development of build better, greener and more resilient post-COVID-19 societies.
The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the world, impacting lives and livelihoods and exposing how fragile our countries and systems are to major shocks. The necessary measures taken by many governments to deal with the health crisis have saved lives, but also affected our economies.
As the first wave of the pandemic recedes in some countries, many governments are pushing forward with recovery and stimulus measures that are unprecedented in scale. There are growing calls from governments, business and civil society to ensure that these measures support a sustainable and resilient future but few examples of where this is happening in practice. There is widespread recognition that the world should not return to business as usual.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, it is more imperative than ever to change our relationship with nature and our impacts on the climate, biodiversity and improve access to clean water and sanitation.
A Global Survey of Conservation Finance - ILCN/ELCN 2020 Webinar Series
When: June 10th, 8:00AM EST
As part of the ILCN/ECLN (International Land Conservation Network) 2020 Webinar Series, this global survey will explore a range of case studies to examine different approaches to conservation finance around the world and ask practitioners what regionally-unique political, social and economic opportunities and challenges they have faced. Framed by the aggregate experience of practitioners, the session will give attendees a distilled understanding of creative solutions to challenging problems around the world.
Valuing Nature
The price tag for taking on the unprecedented loss of biodiversity we face exceeds the current and combined capital resources of governments and nonprofits. But there is hope. In this webinar, NatureVest founder William Ginn outlined emerging opportunities for private sector investment in natural assets such as green infrastructure, forests, soils, and fisheries.
This informative conversation between William Ginn and Peter Stein, Managing Director of the Lyme Timber Company, was recorded on Thursday, May 21st in partnership with the Conservation Finance Network.
OECD-UNDP Virtual Global Conference on Biodiversity Finance
The OECD Biodiversity Land Use and Ecosystems (BLUE) programme, and the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) convened a joint virtual Global Conference on Biodiversity Finance as a milestone in the lead up to CBD COP15. This conference was originally planned to take place in Paris. However, due to COVID-19, the physical meeting is postponed to a later date. The objectives of this virtual series were:
First, to examine trends and lessons learned in scaling up biodiversity finance and policy incentives.
Second, to foster exchange, among governments and biodiversity finance experts, of experiences, best practices and opportunities for mobilising, tracking and aligning biodiversity finance.
Third, to reflect on recommendations on biodiversity finance for the CBD post-2020 global biodiversity framework.