New eco.business Fund Impact Report explores “Five Years of Investing in Sustainability”
Impact fund deploys green finance and technical assistance contributing to the sustainable management of 430,000 hectares of farmland and 8.8 million tons of CO2 stored in agroforestry plantations
Luxembourg, 22 September 2021 – The eco.business Fund released its latest Impact Report today. Entitled “Five Years of Investing in Sustainability: Impact Report 2020,” the publication explores how the fund has implemented a targeted impact approach, leveraged strategic partnerships, and built a strong investor base to promote conservation finance throughout its regions of operations, despite the social and economic challenges present in Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.
“Five Years of Investing in Sustainability: Impact Report 2020” details the fund’s activities over the past five years, supplemented by in-depth highlights from 2020. Ultimately, the activities of the fund and its partners have translated to contributing to saving 4.5 million m3 of water by financing water-efficient technologies and 37,000 liters of herbicide use avoided as of December 2020, among other achievements.
In what has been a tumultuous year, the fund continued to support critical investments in its target regions – financing environmental practices such as sustainable shrimp production, as well as protected agriculture such as fruits and vegetables grown in energy efficient greenhouses. In addition, the fund worked together with partner institutions like Banco Pacífico to implement an effective Environmental and Social Management System, creating positive conditions to identify and mitigate risks.
Through the Development Facility, the eco.business Fund initiated a COVID-19 response package to improve the resilience of 315 bank clients in the tourism industry, particularly hotels. This included, for example, support in portfolio management and loan restructuring, credit risk management, and adaptation of product offering in response to the crisis.
Dr. Jens Mackensen, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the eco.business Fund, stated: “We are incredibly proud of the continued success of the fund. Despite the challenges of the past year, the achievements made to date validate the vision of the fund’s initiators and investors – including, increasingly, private investors – to create an impactful vehicle to address the critical issues of biodiversity conservation, the sustainable use of natural resources, and mitigation and adaptation to climate change.”
To read the full Impact Report, click here.
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 in Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. By providing financing for business practices that conserve nature and foster biodiversity, the fund seeks investments with both environmental and financial returns. The eco.business Fund provides financing through three avenues: local financial institutions that are committed to the fund’s mission and which have the capacity to reach its target group; directly to its target group (i.e. companies and producers); and in the case of sub-Saharan Africa, to real sector intermediaries. The fund supports sustainable operations in the sectors of agriculture, fishery (including aquaculture), forestry and tourism. Target beneficiaries are those that hold an eligible sustainability certification or those taking out a loan to make eligible sustainable investments in their operations.
Operating together with each of the two sub-funds, are two development facilities that provide high-impact technical assistance to investment partners and final borrowers.
An impact investment fund advised by Finance in Motion, 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).
The sub-fund for sub-Saharan Africa was formally launched in 2020 with initial funding from BMZ.
The sub-fund for Latin America and the Caribbean has received funding from the European Commission as well as from numerous other prestigious development finance institutions and institutional investors.
For more information please visit www.ecobusiness.fund and follow us on Twitter @ecobusinessfund.
Media contact eco.business Fund
Merle Römer
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Email: press@ecobusiness.fund
Phone: +49 (0)69 / 271 035-171