eco.business Development Facility co-sponsors biggest biodiversity festival in Colombia

The eco.business Development Facility co-sponsored the ColomBIOdiversidad festival, organized by Envol Vert, an NGO promoting biodiversity conservation in Colombia. More than 6,000 people participated in 40 different locations in Bogotá, Medellin and Barranquilla, with more than 200,000 people connecting online. The theme for the sixth edition of the festival was “forests for the future” and raised awareness of Colombia’s rich biodviersity through a series of activities such as film screenings, exhibitions, musical activities, conferences and workshops.

Lucía Gaitán from the eco.business Fund’s advisor Finance in Motion hosted a workshop entitled, “Territorial strategies for forest value and the fight against deforestation,” which  showcased the results obtained in the sustainable cattle project developed in partnership with Banco Lafise in Nicaragua. The presentation revealed how the implementation of new technologies, such as drones, are being used by financial institutions to ensure the protection of forests in cattle activities and enhance environmental risk assessments in financial decision-making.

Karim ould Chih, Chairman of eco.business Development Facility said: “Co-sponsoring the biggest biodiversity festival in Colombia not only provides the eco.business Fund with a global platform to raise awareness on the environment and sustainability, but also allows the fund to show how the financial sector can support biodiversity conservation through its investments.“ 

About the eco.business Fund

The eco.business Fund aims to promote business and consumption practices that contribute to biodiversity conservation, to the sustainable use of natural resources, and to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts. By providing financing for business practices that conserve nature and foster biodiversity, the fund seeks investments with both environmental and financial returns. The fund mainly provides loans to qualified financial institutions that on-lend the money to eligible borrowers, which include holders of recognized certifications or those making improvements in line with conservation and biodiversity goals. The fund supports sustainable operations in the sectors of agriculture, fishery (including aquaculture), forestry and tourism.

The eco.business Fund was initiated by Germany’s KfW Development Bank and Conservation International with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It has received further donor support from the European Commission The fund’s additional investor base comprises IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, the U.K.  government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Dutch development bank FMO, Austrian development bank OeEB, and institutional investors such as sustainable banking institution ASN Bank, German ethical bank GLS Bank, Calvert Impact Capital, and Raiffeisen Bank International. Finance in Motion, a leading impact investing company, is also an investor.

Operating hand-in-hand with the eco.business Fund, the eco.business Development Facility provides high-impact technical assistance to financial institutions and final borrowers.

For more information please visit www.ecobusiness.fund and follow us on Twitter @ecobusinessfund.