B@B Workstream 3: Access to Finance and Innovative Financing
Mechanisms – Call for Evidence
The Finance Workstream
Workstream 3 of the EU Business and Biodiversity Platform focuses on access to finance and innovative
financing mechanisms for business and biodiversity. It aims to demonstrate the benefits to business of
biodiversity-related investments, and to showcase financing schemes for biodiversity and champions in
the finance sector who are funding biodiversity related projects or using nature related criteria for
financing decisions.
The objectives of the Workstream are to:

Identify and profile biodiversity investment opportunities (e.g. pro-biodiversity
business/certified products; biodiversity offsetting and habitat banking, PES schemes and biocarbon markets, financial services);

Identify funds and financial instruments providing investment in biodiversity in the EU and
worldwide.

Identify key actors in the financial sector championing integration of biodiversity into
investment decisions.
In response to the views of Platform members, in 2015 the finance workstream is undertaking a more
detailed analysis of financial needs and opportunities in key areas of biodiversity action (certified
products, offsets, green infrastructure, payments for ecosystem services, biodiversity friendly
businesses). The work will include case studies of successful implementation under various financing
instruments, both public and private, and examine the role of EU funds in this context.
This Call for Evidence briefly introduces the topics that we are exploring, and sets out some of the
questions that we would like you to help us address. Further details of the range of opportunities we
are examining are presented in a more detailed Discussion Paper which accompanies this call.
Investment opportunities
Addressing the loss of biodiversity will generate a range of opportunities for business and finance.
These opportunities include:
■
Certified goods and services - Goods and services certified as having minimal or positive impacts
on biodiversity may command premium prices and represent a major growth opportunity in the EU.
Biodiversity is being increasingly incorporated within standards and certification systems for a range
of sectors, particularly sustainable agricultural products, timber and fisheries resources.
■
Biodiversity offsetting and no net loss measures - Compensating for development impacts on
biodiversity can accelerate regulatory approval, enhance reputational value and secure additional
finance for conservation. Offsets have high potential to mobilize private sector funds for new
investment in ecological networks and species protection. Companies such as CDC-Biodiversité
in France and the Environment Bank in the UK are actively involved in offsets and habitat banking.
■
Green Infrastructure projects offer a cost-effective alternative to engineered solutions whilst
having positive benefits for biodiversity, offering significant potential to tap into new and diverse
financing and revenue streams. Projects that link GI to existing ‘grey’ infrastructure - such as Gaz
de France’s creation of ecological networks linked to its gas pipeline infrastructure - can provide
tangible benefits and overcome scepticism amongst decision-makers.
Green Business
Improvement Districts in London and other cities involve companies working together to secure
finance for green infrastructure.
■
Payments for Ecosystem Services and bio-carbon markets are expanding and are expected to
have a global market value of $7bn by 2020. For example, the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund
recently announced a dedicated $280m Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes, building on its
broad portfolio of investments in forest and agro-ecological carbon stocks, and support from
corporate partners such as Unilever, Mondelez and Bunge.
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■
Other pro-biodiversity goods and services include a diverse range of environmental
technologies, consultancy, eco-tourism, media services, financial services, and processing of
products from conservation management e.g. conservation biomass.
Scale of market opportunities
Market opportunities for business and biodiversity are diverse, and many of the investment categories
outlined above are at very different levels of maturity across the EU. Certified goods and services are
witnessing rapid expansion and are in some sectors becoming an important element of market access,
whilst biodiversity offsetting measures are largely at the pilot or demonstration phase in most of the EU
(despite a mature market in Germany). Green infrastructure projects, whilst increasingly widespread,
have benefited largely from public support to date and market opportunities appear underdeveloped,
whilst private sector payments for ecosystem services have seen good growth in some sectors where
specific regulatory drivers are in place (e.g. the water sector). Pro-biodiversity business opportunities
are even more diverse, though often relatively small-scale.
Financing challenges
Despite considerable market potential, many biodiversity-related businesses and initiatives report
difficulties in gaining access to sufficient finance. This stems from a number of common challenges,
including unproven levels of demand coupled with high upfront/capital costs, the complex or technical
nature of many projects, and the diversity of beneficiaries. Development of viable projects often requires
access to a range of technical, economic and financial planning skills and there may be key opportunities
for specialist consultancies to help to address these needs.
Sources of finance
Despite the challenges of securing conventional finance, biodiversity-related business activities typically
yield a wide range of benefits to both public and private stakeholders. As such, there may be specific
opportunities to tap into a wider mix of financing sources, including EU Structural Funds and research
and innovation grants, private sector financing through specialist venture capital and ‘green bond’
auctions, public-private partnership contracts, business improvement district levies, quasi-public funding
sources (eg. lottery funds), charitable trusts and specialist lenders such as the Dutch Greentech Fund
or UK Green Investment Bank.
Further discussion of each of the topics above is provided, for each theme, in the Discussion Paper.
Call for evidence
We would like to invite you to complete the template attached below. Please feel free to invite
contributions from other contacts who might also be interested in contributing.
For further information or to discuss this workstream further, please contact Matt Rayment, Consulting
Director at ICF International, matt.rayment@icfi.com
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Template for Submission of Evidence
You are invited to complete the following template, and/or to provide evidence in the form of
documents, web links and contacts.
Your name and contact details
Questions for Platform members, observers and representatives
1. Are you involved in biodiversity-related business activities that could be showcased through
this workstream? If so, could you please provide details, including:
1.1 Name of the product/ service/ initiative
1.2 Description of the product/ service/ initiative
1.3 History and experience to date
1.4 Biodiversity benefits
1.5 Nature and scale of market opportunities
1.6 Financing needs
1.7 Sources of finance – existing and potential
1.8 Financing issues and challenges
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2. Are you aware of any other organisations involved in the development, sale and financing of
certified products or services, biodiversity offsets, green infrastructure projects, payments for
ecosystem services and/or any other pro-biodiversity businesses that could be investigated in
this workstream? If so, please give details.
3. What are the specific opportunities and challenges in financing:
Biodiversity certified goods and services?
Biodiversity offsetting and no net loss measures?
Green infrastructure projects?
Payments for Ecosystem Services and bio-carbon markets?
Other pro-biodiversity goods and services?
4. Do you have any other comments on the content of the Discussion Paper? If so, we would be
pleased to receive them here (as general comments) and/ or as comments and tracked changes
in the document.
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