French luxury goods firm Kering and beauty goods retailer L’Occitane have pledged €140 million to a new fund that will mobilise investments from the luxury fashion and beauty industries to protect and restore nature, focusing in particular on empowering women.
The Climate Fund for Nature, initiated by Kering with a €300 mln target size, was announced Monday, though will be formally launched on Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing COP15 UN biodiversity talks in Montreal.
Mirova, a sustainable investment affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, will manage the fund, which will begin operations in Q1 next year.
“The Climate Fund for Nature provides an opportunity for the luxury fashion and beauty sectors to collectively support biodiversity restoration and conservation at scale,” said Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer.
“Innovative financing mechanisms are crucial to channel much-needed investment into nature-based solutions if we are to reverse biodiversity decline by 2030 and, simultaneously, address climate change, which is intrinsically interlinked with nature.”
The fund is open to new partner companies to support the further scaling-up of the fund, according to the announcement.
The fund will aim to invest in high-quality projects that protect and restore nature as well as support farmers transitioning to regenerative practises.
It will seek out projects able to generate carbon credits and generate co-benefits for involved communities.
Most of the projects eligible under the fund’s investment guidelines will be based in countries where the investors source their core raw materials.
“The projects supported will also be required to significantly contribute to women empowerment, by addressing existing gaps related to access to finance, land and training. To that end, the fund and Mirova will collaborate with 2X Collaborative, a global industry body for gender lens investing,” the announcement said.
Kering and L’Occitane Group are the latest in a steadily growing line of businesses announcing their intention to invest in projects or activities aimed at limiting their negative impact on nature and biodiversity, as the world is grappling with how to close the annual $700 billion shortage in funding to halt the decline in global biodiversity.
“With our planet facing a global climate and biodiversity crisis never witnessed before, L’Occitane Group is proud to join forces with Kering and Mirova to scale-up its action against the degradation of nature, which provides the very resources and services we rely on,” said Adrien Geiger, L’Occitane Groups’ chief sustainability officer.
“While reducing our emissions and impacts is our priority, the Climate Fund for Nature will help us go further by supporting projects that encourage regenerative practices, benefiting both nature and communities
By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com
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