Presentation from the workshop on Mobilising Public and Private Finance for Biodiversity, May 2025

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© Finance Earth
W106 Vox Studios, 1-45 Durham Street
London SE11 5JH
Mobilising Public and Private Finance
for Biodiversity
Session 5: Structuring Bankable Biodiversity Projects
at Scale
16 May 2025
Private and Confidential

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Introduction to Finance Earth
Founded in 2016, Finance Earth is a leading environmental impact investment boutique, offering financial advisory and fund
management services. We are an employee owned and award-winning social enterprise that makes finance work for
conservation, climate and communities.
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Market building
Financial
Advisory
Investment
Product Design
Investment
Management
£100m +
Impact transactions
100+
Impact projects
40
Employees
35+
Countries where Finance
Earth advise on projects
A few of our partners:
• Finance Earth provides regulated financial advisory and
investment management services focused on scaling high
integrity, high impact, investment into nature, whilst
ensuring communities are central to solutions.
• Finance Earth has extensive experience in designing financing
solutions for Nature-Based Solutions, and in building
ecosystem services markets.

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Overview: Challenges developing ‘investible’ pipelines
Most of the challenges attracting private investment into projects that benefit biodiversity comes from the disconnect
between what ‘traditional’ investors require and the reality of developing projects in the real world.
What Investors Want
Simple Product
Track Record
Appropriate Scale
Appropriate Risk and Return Profile
Low Transaction and Management Costs
Robust Reporting and Timely Information
What’s the Current Reality on the Ground
Complex Projects Stacking Multiple Revenues
No or Limited Track Records
Small/ Disaggregated Projects
Limited Investors and High Return Expectations
High Initial and Ongoing Costs
Evolving Standards and Difficulty Accessing Info
Limited Executed Transactions, Further Limiting Market Development

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• Contracted offtake or proven
market
• E.g. sustainable commodities,
ecosystem services or specific
biodiversity outcomes
Case Study:
Fisheries Improvement Fund
Key features of bankable biodiversity projects
Robust
revenue
stream
Scale
• Minimum €5-10 million for
many investors
• Can be helped by aggregation
of smaller projects
Risk
Reduction
• Often vital to attract more
commercial investment
• E.g. first loss capital,
guarantee, insurance
Repayable finance provider(s)
Fishery Improvement
Project Implementers
Supply chain
actors
Long-term
‘offtake’ deals
Protection of Marine
Biodiversity

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• Combining public / private /
philanthropic funding – to
ultimately unlock larger scale
investment
Case Study:
Cerrado Resilience Facility
(in development)
Reducing risk to unlock investment
Blended
Finance
Right
Finance,
Right
Place
• ‘Catalytic capital’ is in high
demand – use strategically
and in combination
Project
Design
• Track record / proven
interventions
• High quality implementer(s)
• Measurable outcomes
Investors
Soy Farmers
Cerrado
Resilience Facility
Recovery of Degraded Pasture &
Protection of Native Vegetation and Biodiversity
Supply Chain
Companies
Impact
Investors
Commercial
Investors
Public /
Philanthropic
Funders
Blended finance
investment structure
Deforestation
& Conversion
Free Soy
Concessional Loans,
Repaid from Crop Sales

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• Enables development of high
quality projects delivering
measurable outcomes
Case Study:
Community-based Landscape Protection,
Tanzania
Building effective partnerships to increase bankability
Specialist
NGOs
First
Mover
Corporates
• Can play vital role in crowding
in peers in pre-competitive
structures
Local
actors
• Community engagement and
benefit is often critical to
project success
• Robust local governance
structures are vital
Repayable finance provider(s)
Biodiversity
Enhancement Project
Project
Forest Protection
Project
Lindi & Morogoro Landscape Protection Programme
Led by Village Climate Solutions Limited (VCSL)
Agricultural
Development Project
Biodiversity Credit /
Outcome Buyers
Carbon Credit
Buyer(s)
Tanzania Forest
Conservation
Group
Southern Tanzania
Elephant
Programme
* In development
*
*
Agricultural /
Livelihood Outcome
Buyers
Note that structure shown reflects overall
programme structure but not actual
financing arrangements
Partnerships with
specialist and
local actors

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© Finance Earth
W106 Vox Studios, 1-45 Durham Street
London SE11 5JH
For more information, please contact:
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Doug Hull
Senior Associate Director
doug@finance.earth