Wednesday, 16 November    16:00 - 17:30    Marrakesh room

Unlocking private finance in forests, sustainable land use and restoration

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Hosts:  UNEP


The landmark climate agreement in Paris in December 2015 called upon member states to take action to limit global average temperature increases to below 2 degrees. In order to do this, it is imperative to stimulate a change in the flow of private finance that is more conducive with low- carbon investment. To facilitate that transition, new instruments that leverage private investment are needed. While the development of such instruments has advanced much in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, they are basically in their infancy for forests, sustainable land use and landscape restoration, a sector with a significant potential for mitigation, particularly in developing countries.

This event addresses the funding/finance gap challenge (i.e. the difference between the supply and demand of capital for forest and landscapes restoration), and how a number of novel products and mechanisms aim to leverage public funding with private finance, including the challenges to get such schemes off the ground and replicating them in different countries and regions.

Participate in the discussion: submit your questions and answer polls online


Key questions addressed:

  1. What is the current scale of private finance and public funding in forest and landscape restoration? How many potential fund managers / development companies want to engage in this field? What role can governments and international organizations play to scale this up?
  2. Can a seed capital facility for forest and landscape restoration address the need to scale up funding and finance for forest and landscape restoration? If so, under what circumstances? What are the pitfalls that need to be avoided? What are the opportunities that can be seized?
  3. Green bonds have been issued in the energy efficiency and renewable energy space, but not yet focused specifically to finance sustainable land use. What concepts are on the table and what needs to happen for these to become a reality?