A bird looking to the left, camouflaging its face, illustrates the urgency and variability of biodiversity.

Finding the Frontier for Biodiversity Finance

In June, conservation finance practitioners reconnected in a stone skyscraper overlooking New York City's Madison Square Park for Credit Suisse's annual conference. This story excerpts a dialogue between Emma Crystal, the bank's chief sustainability officer, and a BlackRock research leader named Chris Weber.
Recovery across the world came before a panel of experts at Yale in January.

The International Society for Tropical Forestry’s 2022 conference at Yale emphasized scale and the importance of COVID-19 recovery efforts for the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.”

Financing Tropical Forests: Lessons For Scaling From Yale's Annual Conference

Nadeem Demian
In looking at forest restoration finance in a tropical context, three experts at a Yale-sponsored panel spoke of clearer images from space and more inclusive planning on the ground.
US capitol

A Pioneering Environmental Impact Bond for DC Water (Updated)

Abby Martin, Alec Appelbaum
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) created a municipal bond that covers the downside risk of using green infrastructure to control stormwater runoff. By offloading risk to investors, the utility drew new financing -and time to get its practices right. Now other cities are following its lead.
Wetland restoration aerial photo

In the wake of Katrina, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries
and the state of Louisiana teamed up to rebuild
significant portions of a 19-mile expanse of
barrier islands off Barataria Bay. Newly
rebuilt beaches and dunes were erected from
2006-2009, and scientists today continue to
monitor for changes in elevation, vegetation
and species abundance at this site. To learn more
about this project, visit the NOAA website.
(Credit: NOAA)

Louisiana Environmental Impact Bond May Reduce Coastal Land Loss

Kat Friedrich
Bordered by beautiful wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana is a hub of transportation and industry. A pilot environmental impact bond could seed a set of wetland-restoration projects for the state. Environmental Defense Fund, Quantified Ventures, and their project partners are proposing to draw on funding from the Deepwater...
Philadelphia

How Green Infrastructure Yields Urban Safety and Health

Kat Friedrich
Greenprint Partners is field-testing a green infrastructure-financing approach that could help make communities healthier and safer in a small group of Rust Belt cities. In an interview, Nicole Chavas, the company’s CEO and cofounder, and Rose Jordan, its marketing director, said the models have expansion potential. If adopted on a...
Republic Iron and Steel Works

This historic image shows Republic Iron and Steel Works,
a factory that was in Youngstown, Ohio in the early 20th century.
Today, Youngstown has experienced a decline in its manufacturing
economy, leading to poverty and crime. Green infrastructure can
help make Youngstown and similar communities safer and healthier.
Flickr

A Blueprint for Financing Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Kat Friedrich
In a few Rust Belt cities that are seeking economic and social benefits, Greenprint Partners – formerly known as Fresh Coast Capital – is breaking new ground by financing fresh solutions for green stormwater infrastructure. It is using a combination of municipal, private and government resources. Its goals are to...
Rain gardens built by District Stormwater

Rain gardens built by District Stormwater, LLC, in partnership
with Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Washington,
generate over 90,000 SRCs annually at the historic Mount Olivet
Cemetery.
Severn Smith/The Nature Conservancy

Focus on Investors Boosts DC’s Stormwater Credit Market

Allegra Wrocklage
The Washington, DC Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE)’s Stormwater Retention Credit Program takes a unique approach to attracting private capital to effectively leverage public funds. DOEE’s financial commitment to managing its stormwater challenges and proactive transparency in working with investors have created an attractive opportunity for private investment.