Binyamin Ali
The sobering reality about food production and consumption habits is we continue to have increasingly unhealthy populations and there is limited respite from the industry’s emissions.
The local authority pension scheme asset manager has launched several ESG and responsible investment public and private market vehicles in the last three years.
Mombak’s Amazon Reforestation Fund has sold 30% of its 10-year projected output at a price point bettered only by the EU’s emissions trading scheme.
Land-based aquaculture investments, debt-for-nature swaps and DFI-backed investments are on an upward trajectory but the scale of capital needed remains daunting.
The sovereign debt restructuring facility seems capable of solving numerous challenges simultaneously but has some way to go before it becomes an easily replicable way of protecting natural capital.
Christof Kutscher has stepped down from the role and Berg will move up from his position as chief investment officer for the firm’s nature based carbon strategy.
Dutch insurer ASR has committed €10m to the Article 9 fund, which links 100% of its carried interest to the achievement of impact goals.
The final figure is yet to be rubberstamped but a 5% allocation would represent £1.2bn and the pension needs to deploy at least 2% of AUM into natural capital ‘to make it worthwhile’.
A carbon credit with inherently questionable value is no good for the climate or the sector but it’s also no good to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
All eyes are on Montreal as COP15 looks to deliver an international commitment on biodiversity retention and restoration that can replicate the impact of the Paris Climate Accords.