Discussion Forums

An ever-growing number of companies have made strong, measurable commitments to climate friendly sourcing and production.  In particular, these commitments are manifested in changing practices and securing supply chains that reduce or eliminate deforestation and contribute to sustainable and more productive landscapes. These actions have the potential, if implemented to scale, to significantly reduce deforestation associated with major agricultural supply chains and have created significant momentum to reduce the pressure on tropical forests. However, delivering on those commitments often requires collaboration with the public sector to create an enabling environment based on sound policies, good governance and market incentives, and provide the infrastructure necessary for transport, market access, and reliable communications. 

In this discussion forum, the World Bank Group will ask leading practitioners from the private sector what they need from the public sector to help them deliver on their commitments to create deforestation free supply chains, restore degraded lands, and improve social outcomes. Participants in the session will include representatives from the financial services, forestry, dairy and other agricultural products.

Agricultural, forestry, wetland and other land use level investments in the tropics have typically been isolated. The architecture of individual deals has been designed around their individual: financial viability, technical feasibility, social acceptability, de-risking approaches, environmental sustainability, delivery agent capacities, and the extent of guarantees. This ignores the synergies and potential risks of other projects, enterprises and deals that may impact on the perceived “isolated” deal. The unknown biological, financial, political, social and market opportunities and constraints of such isolation have often dissuaded sound investments and crowded in speculators (seeking high rewards for high risks) and “all or nothing” investment gamblers seeking extractive profits.

The opportunities for greater co-design, co-location and co-investment of more robust financial approaches have been recently used at landscape levels to combine financial capital appreciation along with environmental and social dividends. A range of investment instruments and approaches will be showcased with varying: maturities, guarantees, risk thresholds, reward levels, base currencies, geographies and conditionalities. Here the intention to combine capital appreciation with combined appreciation of natural capital, social capital and human capital of individual deals; and create linkages or “bonds” with linked investments.

Metrics for landscape level enterprises in agriculture, forestry, extractives and wetlands have been lacking and contributed to doubts on the investment grade of such instruments. Principles will be introduced and discussed to seek greater understanding and convergence on the utilities of such measures and standards. These can especially be used to underpin better design of viable and profitable projects, and linkages between linked investments primarily for self-monitoring and reporting with scope for third party independent assurance when required. These may also trigger new investments as some companies seek to divest from agricultural certification to more performance reinforcing approaches.

This discussion forum will showcase innovative approaches to enterprise level investments and trigger dialogue on ways to better co-design, co-locate and co-invest at the landscape level.

This discussion forum will challenge the myth that progress on forest landscape restoration (FLR) is in most cases being hinderedby lack of funding and of “bankable projects.”Many models existalready for funding the transformation of landscapes through forest landscape restoration, andthese examples demonstrate that differing FLR interventions require different blends of public and private funding. Insights by leaders in this field will highlight this diversity of experiences. Panelists and the audience will reflect and discuss emerging pathways towards mainstreaming forest landscape restoration in business portfolios, reaching beyond industry champions, while being supported by aligned and conducive public sector policy frameworks that enable such funding to be mobilized. These insights will also emphasize the role of blended public finance in various FLR interventions dispelling the myth that only private financing will fill the gap.

Speakers will make short interventions on examples of blended finance for forest landscape restoration followed by a lively discussion with the audience on future opportunities.  The moderator will initiate the discussion with a few strategic questions and will guide audience members and panelists through the debate.