Unlocking Forest Finance - Mobilisation of private sector capital to reduce deforestation through Public/Private Partnerships for forests and rural livelihoods.

The Project aims to increase capacity among policymakers in Amazonia to mobilise large-scale public/private funding through innovative financing mechanisms that enable the conservation and sustainable use of forests as natural capital (I), adaptation to climate change (II) & climate friendly economic development (III). Focussing on Amazonia, this project will increase the capacity among policymakers in three case study regions to generate public/private funding to halt deforestation, reform agriculture and improve rural livelihoods. It will design large-scale innovative financing mechanisms (IFM) at the jurisdictional scale of a state or municipality, to fund the transition from business-as-usual (BAU) to sustainable ecosystem management (SEM), working with the financial sector and sub-national governments.

Project data

Countries: Brazil, Peru
IKI funding: 4,074,805.55 €
Duration: 04/2013 till 03/2019
Status: completed
Implementing organisation: Global Canopy Programme (GCP)
Political Partner: Acre State Government- Brazil

Government of Mato Grosso - Brazil

San Martin Regional Government (GORESAM) - Peru
Implementing Partner: Amazon Environmental Research Institute - Brazil

Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI)

Development and Research Centre of the Selva Alta (CEDISA) - Peru

Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH (UFZ)

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

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State of implementation/results

Project completed
A portfolio of investments has been formulated by the local partners in all three pilot regions. These investments should sustainably increase production in agricultural supply chains while supporting protective effects and a sustainable livelihood. Project partners determined which investments remained in the portfolio by assessing their environmental, social and economic benefits/costs against criteria such as return on investment, climate risks, biodiversity impacts, employment, etc.
For each of the three portfolios, the UFF project team had collected economic data and produced estimates of the investment costs for the transition to sustainable development as well as the possible returns. UFF held regular meetings with the project advisory group, receiving strategic advice from 3 international financial institutions, 2 private banks, potential insurance/guarantors and specialist investment advisors.
The project team interviewed numerous local and international stakeholders and used the results to develop an appropriate pre-financing mechanism
GCP presented the UFF project at the COP 21 Global Landscapes Forum in December 2015 with the participation of the EIB, Finance in Motion, Althelia, Credit Suisse and UNCCD
Joint development of a loan mechanism with AGROBANCO in Peru for the granting of agricultural loans, which failed due to the withdrawal of AGROBANCO
In 2018, the project contacted other investors to present the concept of the green credit line developed with AGROBANCO in order to obtain their input and interest in financing the pilot project. These investors attended a second breakfast meeting in the first quarter of 2019, where clear roles were defined and how their business strategy will ligned with the goals of the project. – Creation of the knowledge platform financingsustainablelandscapes.org with a tool kit for possible replications.
The project published the report "Conquering the Valley of Death" to inform about the role of finance in promoting sustainable agricultural production. (www.globalcanopy.org/…)

Latest Update:
04/2024