Nature Investment Hub

There is a tremendous opportunity to invest in economic and environmental resilience, right at home in Canada. That’s revealed in our new report in which investors take stock of the state of nature investment in Canada. This survey is a first-of-its kind effort to benchmark progress on Canada’s nature finance market. So, what did investors tell us? 💡 Meaningful nature finance activity is already underway, and the vast majority of investors expect to maintain or increase investment in nature within the next five years. 💡 Investors signalled high appetite for options that address the twin crises of biodiversity and climate change together through nature-based solutions, and increased collaboration with Indigenous partners. 💡 The top driving factors for investing in nature are climate change, impact/responsible investment mandates, and biodiversity outcomes. 💡 Investable nature finance opportunities are needed, and increasing investment relies upon whether attractive opportunities grow at pace. 💡  Key factors would lead to increasing investment in nature: higher returns, more risk sharing, improved data, more liquid opportunities, and larger scale opportunities. 💡  Across the ecosystem as a whole, top enabling factors are: more examples of investments or products with track records, more public market investment opportunities, enhanced external expertise, and greater clarity and standardization of impact measurement. 🔗 Read more in the report: https://lnkd.in/ezPWSbFC #naturefinance #conservationfinance #investinnature #sustainablefinance #madeinCanada Paige Olmsted Priya Bala-Miller PhD Courtney Kehoe Alice Irene Whittaker

Thank you Forests Canada for hosting this conversation on the business of nature. Our conservation finance specialist Paige Olmsted joined Dan Kraus of University of Waterloo and Kathryn Bakos of Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation | Centre Intact d’adaptation au climat to discuss the importance of integrating biodiversity into economic decision-making, and the many benefits of investing in nature.

What happens when clean energy progress is pitted against the value of local ecosystems? When are the trade-offs inevitable and real? Is it a false dichotomy to have to choose between a clean economy and nature? These are some of the thorny and essential questions asked in the latest long-read by Jessie Sitnick for Generate Canada. Our conservation finance specialist Paige Olmsted weighed in, alongside fellow experts Merran Smith, Alison Cretney, Dan Woynillowicz, and Colleen Kaiser, Ph.D. Paige says, "We could choose to weigh our decisions and their impacts more honestly by accounting for all the value we stand to gain or lose [from a project]–including the value provided by nature. We already know how to do this. It’s called natural capital accounting." She helps challenge the notion that disrupting nature in the short term is the price we have to pay to save it (and us) in the long term. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gedXHqJR #naturefinance #conservationfinance #solutionsjournalism Smart Prosperity Institute Energy Futures Lab New Economy Canada Polaris Strategy + Insight

Join KPMG for a biodiversity and natural assets webinar on February 26. Bailey Church, FCPA, FCA, CIA, Lead Partner, Public Sector Accounting Advisory Services, and David Greenall, Global Head - Climate Risk & Response will discuss the critical role of natural asset accounting in making informed decisions about public sector resource allocation, land use planning, and infrastructure development in support of long-term community well-being, sustainability and resilience. Details on how to register 👇

We’ll be talking about the business of nature at the upcoming Forests Canada’s Forest Conference. 🌲 🌳 As business leaders increasingly recognize the value of nature, integrating biodiversity and forest stewardship into economic decision-making is more important than ever.  Our conservation finance specialist Paige Olmsted will join Dan Kraus of University of Waterloo and Kathryn Bakos of Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation | Centre Intact d’adaptation au climat and Ontario Biodiversity Council to explore how businesses can play a key role in investing in forest sustainability and restoration. Register here: https://lnkd.in/er8QwUYF #naturefinance #biodiversity #forests #biodiversitycanada #conservation #conservationfinance Jessica Kaknevicius

What is the Conservation Impact Bond model - and how can it be scaled? 🔎 This in-depth piece from SVX looks at how: 🌲 Carolinian Canada Coalition has partnered with stakeholders and rights holders to develop the Carolinian Zone Conservation Impact Bond (CIB) 🌲This ambitious impact investing initiative harnesses a combination of impact investing and philanthropic grants to finance positive landscape renewals and improvements 🌲This multi-phase initiative seeks to improve a combined 1,000 acres of habitat in this ecologically significant region in Southern Ontario 🌲 This initiative is protecting the region’s fragile biodiversity, resilience and freshwater reserves in the spirit and practice of Reconciliation 🌲 This is the first-of-its-kind outcomes financing tool applied to healthy landscapes in Canada 🌲We can learn from organizations that have scaled impact investing innovations with a focus on conservation, with global success stories like the Forest Resilience Bond, Conservation Fund Green Bonds, and NatureVest 🌲There is a pathway to scale conservation finance: it requires resourcing and continually improving governance, recognizing there are limits (or levers) to scale, and there is a need to resource the operations of the core entity and partners involved in complex impact investing innovations Read more in this piece from SVX: https://lnkd.in/eYkxA7er #naturefinance #conservationfinance #finance #conservation #nature #natureinCanada #greenbonds Jo Reynolds Adam Spence Blue Forest World Resources Institute USDA Forest Service National Forest Foundation Green Finance Institute The Nature Conservancy

Our team is very proud of this collaboration with First 30x30. We’re energized by our shared values and ambition, and our alignment on centering Indigenous Nations within a growing nature finance marketing in Canada. First 30x30 is a partnership led by Nature For Justice, IISAAK OLAM Foundation, and Nature Focus. Read more in First 30x30's announcement! #naturefinance #indigenousled #conservationfinance Priya Bala-Miller PhD Courtney Kehoe Paige Olmsted Alice Irene Whittaker Jeffrey Brown Ⓥ Steven Nitah Eli Enns Robin Barr

Our very own Paige Olmsted will be at GlobexChange by GLOBE Series, providing expertise on investment strategies for watershed security. Co-hosted with gwen bridge and Roy Brooke, this interactive workshop on Feb. 11 will explore investment models and mechanisms to supply sustainable and flexible funding for watershed projects. Participants will look at the strategies to scale investments for global adaptation and conservation goals. Check out the full programme and register:  https://lnkd.in/eVzvnCKQ #naturefinance #conservationfinance #globeseries #GLOBExCHANGE #sustainablefinance #conservation #watersheds Natural Assets Initiative (NAI)

We feel the urgency of our work to activate nature finance in Canada more than ever - even in the face of headwinds. That’s why in 2025, we will advance two flagship initiatives: Canada’s Nature Finance Roadmap and A ‘Made in Canada’ Nature Finance Bootcamp. We’re sharpening our focus as we think about the sobering moment we find ourselves at: wildfires in L.A., a looming insurance crisis, and powerful players that continue to ignore the evidence of the biodiversity and climate crises – and the finance gap we need to close to address them. For Canadians, these are not ‘far-off’ problems that we can ignore. Meeting these challenges will require activating the whole nature finance ecosystem in Canada to work smarter with approaches that we know can make a real difference like nature-based infrastructure and natural climate solutions. Read more from our Managing Director Priya Bala-Miller PhD about how we are doubling down on the Hub’s ambitious mandate to achieve a fivefold increase in nature finance.   https://lnkd.in/eDeUhKWJ #naturefinance #conservationfinance #sustainablefinance #conservation #natureinCanada

Join the Canadian Alliance for Net Zero Agri-Food (CANZA) on February 10 for their event, Seeding New Ground. You’ll hear from leaders in the Canadian agri-food space including CANZA Managing Director Nick Betts - plus rumour has it that there will be an exciting announcement. This gathering leads up to Farm Credit Canada (FCC)'s Future of Food, which will take place on Canada's Agriculture Day, February 11.  🌾 Register for CANZA’s Seeding New Ground: https://lnkd.in/gH6pUUMf 🥕 Register for Future of Food: https://lnkd.in/g8yxdjec