Conservation Finance Network

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service seeks public comments on its interim rule for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. The rule – now available on the Federal Register – takes effect on publication and includes changes to the program prescribed by the 2018 Farm Bill.

Mirova's Natural Capital Platform is looking to generate attractive returns and positive impact from investments in sustainable agriculture, fisheries and conservation. CEO Philippe Zaouati spoke to Environmental Finance .

In August, an estimated 4.6 million acres of the Amazon rainforest burned in a government-condoned campaign to clear land for crops and cattle. What most of the world saw as a hopeless and horrifying political problem, though, Bjorn Otto saw as a math problem. And math problems can be solved.

The $200 million round included new investor FedEx, and new lender Pacific Western Bank as well as existing investors, bringing Indigo’s total capital raised to approximately $850 million.

The notes drew a wide range of accredited investors including individuals, non-profits, family offices and ImpactAssets’ Donor Advised Fund to help convert conventional farmland to organic. In addition to the soil restoration notes, the REIT in September launched a direct public offering that could raise up to $50 million from the general public for farmland conversion.

"Verra and the Climate Action Reserve, both of which manage leading GHG crediting programs, are leading players in this space, playing a pivotal role in ensuring the highest standards when it comes to carbon measurement and accounting."

The Climate Action Reserve is developing a Soil Enrichment Project Protocol that will provide guidance on how to quantify, monitor, report and verify agricultural practices that enhance carbon storage in soils. The primary greenhouse gas (GHG) benefit targeted will be the accrual of additional carbon in agricultural soils, with hopes to incentivize GHG emission reductions from other sources, such as N2O from fertilizer use.

The Food Securities Fund was one of the three Non-Grant Instruments approved by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council in December 2019. The global emerging markets fund, which starts with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, was deemed to be well-aligned with GEF focal areas, including on land degradation, biodiversity and climate change mitigation.

The $1 billion sustainable agriculture and forestry initiative “AGRI3” has been strengthened by two new cornerstone investors. At the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 23, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it will become an anchor public investor in the AGRI3 Fund by contributing USD 40 million – an amount matched by Rabobank.

Where will the dollars come from to fund that next conservation practice you want to implement on your farm? Your state department of agriculture might have just the answer — and resources — you need.