Dr. Jane Goodall, famed primatologist, conservationist, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, and United Nations Messenger of Peace, Raul Pomares, Founder of Sonen Capital, and Bruce Kahn, Trustee at The Switzer Foundation and Board member of Confluence Philanthropy, and other thought leaders, gathered in Mexico City on April 27. At the invitation of Fondo Mexicano para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza, A.C., they introduced Mexico's banking and investment community to the compelling opportunities available to deploy investment capital, at scale, which create conservation benefits while recognizing critical environmental issues addressing the mounting pressures on the planet due to population growth, climate change and unsustainable business practices.
Connected through their membership at Confluence, Fundo joined forces with SONEN Capital to author a special thought leadership paper for the event, “Investing in Conservation: an assessment of an emerging market to help save the planet”. The report provides a brief overview into key sectors of the global economy in which a conservation and sustainability oriented investment approaches can provide market based investment returns and positive environmental and conservation benefits. Available to the entire Confluence Membership, the report focuses on three areas:
- Sustainable real assets, specifically sustainable timberland, green real estate, sustainable ecosystems and green infrastructure.
- The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and how they can be used as a framework to target and evaluate the impact of investments.
- The Divest/Invest movement around fossil fuels.
"I was pleased to have Raul Pomares and Bruce Kahn join us for this conference to highlight the importance of deploying and aligning investment capital with conservation and sustainable use of the limited natural resources available in our planet. Teaming up with Confluence Philanthropy is one of our most strategic and relevant decisions we can take, as an institution, to scale up conservation finance in México.” Reflected Lorenzo Jose de Rosenzweig, Executive Director, Fondo Mexicano para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza AC, (FMCN), pictured at left with Bruce Kahn.
The World Economic Forum estimates that infrastructure investments will need to exceed at least $5 trillion annually to meet the demands of the growing global population by 2030. To address these demands, attendees discussed the sustainable development challenges which present significant market opportunities for companies to deliver solutions relating to climate change, energy efficiency, transportation, waste reduction, water scarcity and poverty reduction. They illustrated ways in which private capital can play a critical role in meeting infrastructure needs.
"Sustainable Investing, that is, incorporating environmental, Social and Governance factors into the investment decision making process, at the scale of global capital markets, is one of the most powerful tools we have to value natural capital, and generate conservation benefits. Through the adjustment of the cost of capital of firms, the global capital markets have the potential to be the greatest impact investment of them all.” said Bruce Kahn in his presentation.
The event will be followed with a special luncheon for impact investors in Latin America at the 2017 Annual Practitioners Gathering of Confluence Members in New Orleans, Louisiana this coming March.
The SONEN Capital report, “Investing in Conservation: an assessment of an emerging market to help save the planet” is available to Confluence members in the resource library. Please contact Faith Lemon with any questions.
