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TOP STORY
INTERVIEW: The asset manager with the billion-dollar brick in the regenerative agriculture wall
UK-based investor Climate Asset Management (CAM) reveals how it has attracted $1 billion in investment following increasing interest in regenerative agriculture, high-quality food, and nature impacts.
MARKET
Australian outfit finds biodiversity credit demand in carbon partnership
An Australian project developer has sold 70,000 biodiversity credits over the past three months after striking a partnership with a carbon credit supplier to combine offerings.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Asset manager invests $350 mln in Latin American regenerative agriculture
Chile-based investor Toesca Asset Management will invest $350 million in regenerative agriculture practices in Latin America, via a partnership with a UK-headquartered financier, to help reduce the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity loss and carbon emissions.
Nomura AM to add corporate nature opportunities to ESG scores
Nomura Asset Management plans to incorporate nature-related opportunity indicators into its proprietary ESG scoring model in the “near future”, an executive has told Carbon Pulse.
Development banks pledge $12 bln for land degradation
Financiers, mostly development banks, at the UN desertification conference COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this week have committed $12 billion towards drought resilience, land restoration, and combatting land degradation.
UK energy retailer pledges £500k to woodland conservation charity
E.ON Next, a UK home energy supplier, has partnered with a woodland conservation charity and pledged to donate at least £500,000 over the next three years, the utility firm announced on Wednesday.
Investors with $6.5 trillion of assets see mixed results in seafood sustainability engagement
Some 35 investors representing $6.5 trillion in combined assets have engaged with varied results over a year-long outreach with seven seafood companies on sustainability issues such as supply-chain traceability to curb habitat destruction and overfishing.
POLICY
Ecuador, Barbados work on debt swap deals to drive nature, climate resilience investments
Ecuador is reportedly preparing to enter into its second deal to swap debt for conservation funding in the Amazon rainforest, according to a stock exchange filing released this week, while Barbados has announced a first of its kind debt-for-climate-resilience arrangement.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
POLICY
EU deforestation – The EU deforestation regulation will not be further watered down despite its year-long delay, the European Council agreed with the European Parliament this week. The provisional agreement still needs to be confirmed by both institutions before going through the formal adoption procedure. The delay was said to “give legal certainty, predictability and sufficient time for the smooth and effective implementation of the rules, including fully establishing due diligence systems”. Various market actors have criticised the delay for rewarding laggards.
America the Beautiful – The US government has announced $122 mln in grants through the America the Beautiful Challenge. The 61 grants will support landscape-level conservation projects across 42 states and 19 Tribal Nations. They will generate almost $9 mln in matching contributions, it said. Approximately 42% of the funding will back projects led by Indigenous communities. In 2021, the initiative set the nation’s goal of conserving at least 30% of US lands and waters by 2030
Thai bioeconomy – UNDP BIOFIN has launched a project to promote sustainable bioeconomy in central Thai province Phetchaburi in partnership with Krungthai Bank and the country’s environmental department. The initiative focuses on sustainable management of mangrove forests and coastal resources. It aims to generate income, foster public-private investment in conservation, and support vulnerable groups. The project will operate in three subdistricts of the province until June 2026.
PROJECTS
Jaguar cloud – The Global Environment Facility has announced the seven winners of its first Innovation Window initiative, which will provide $12 mln in grants to initiatives that test solutions related to environmental issues ranging from biodiversity loss to pollution. Five of the projects are global in reach, while one focuses on Latin America and another on Africa. The AGRA-led African project will tackle innovative approaches to food systems. The Latin American initiative with TerrAdapt aims to protect jaguar conservation through a cloud-based monitoring system.
SCIENCE & TECH
Plant-animal relationships – The Nature Tech Collective has mapped the sustainable cattle technology sector, creating a database of over 200 companies and 30 datasets, it said this week. Through research conducted in collaboration with Terra Genesis, it has created a 75-page report covering decision-making tools, hardware, biotech, market drivers, MRV, and modelling. It identified gaps in areas including soil-plant-animal relationships, genetics, and manure methane.
AI forests – India’s Uttarakhand state will trial using AI sustainable forest management to develop a 10-year plan in its Garwhal Forest Division, News9 has reported. Initial pilot results have been promising, with AI helping provide detailed ecosystem analyses, stability of nature assessments, and management recommendations, the news outlet said, The forest department plans to extend the approach to other areas.
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