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Impact Investing | Shaun Paul
How Big Tech can restore forests – and credibility in voluntary carbon markets

In the state of Michoacan in western Mexico, indigenous communities have secured Forest Stewardship Council certification for their sustainably managed biodiverse temperate forests.  …

Deploy! | Rachel Reilly
10,000 Communities: With partners, Milken Institute is building a market to drive investment in community infrastructure
Inclusive Economy | Zoila Jennings
Changing how capital flows through communities to improve health
capital communities health
Impact Voices | Rochelle Witharana
Investment manager diversity matters when investing for health equity
manager diversity health equity
Catalytic Capital | Lucy Ngige
Catalyzing local investment and liquidity models to meet Africa’s sustainable finance needs
Johannesburg

Dealflow

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The Brief

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monarch butterflies
May 2, 2024 | ImpactAlpha
The Brief: Can Apple, Microsoft and other tech companies revive forest carbon credits?

Greetings Agents of Impact! And a special shoutout to those of you in Philadelphia for ImpactPHL’s Total Impact Summit. Say hi to ImpactAlpha’s …

Today’s brief

Featured: Carbon Markets

How Big Tech can restore forests – and credibility in voluntary carbon markets. In the Mexican state of Michoacan, Indigenous communities have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council for their sustainably managed and biodiverse forests, which offer refuge to monarch butterflies, jaguars and other endangered species. But their verified emission reductions, in the form of “carbon reduction tons,” fetch less than $10 per ton from international buyers, barely enough to cover the cost of creating and verifying the credits. The meager economics have led communities to consider abandoning their carbon credit efforts altogether, writes Michoacan-based forestry veteran Shaun Paul, who has originated and sold carbon credits for three decades. Buyers of carbon offsets have pulled back after exposés of nature-based projects that did not live up to their carbon-sequestration promises. Now, buyers, sellers and certification bodies are scrambling to fix the voluntary carbon markets and stabilize vital funding for Indigenous land stewards, biodiversity protection and carbon sequestration. 

Dealflow: Energy Transition

India lists a yen-denominated green bond for renewable projects. About 70% of India's electricity comes from dirty fuels, especially coal. The government is aiming to generate 50% of its power from renewable sources by 2030. The Ministry of Power's financing arm, REC Limited,  formerly the Rural Electrification Corp., provides loans to both public and private energy and infrastructure developments. Its 60.5 billion yen-denominated ($386 million) green bond was backed by Crédit Agricole, Bank of America, Citibank, KfW-IPEX Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., attracting interest from both Japanese and international investors. The Italian export credit agency, SACE, guaranteed 80% of the bond, its first yen-denominated transaction. The bond will support financing for renewable generation and transmission, green hydrogen and ammonia, electric mobility and other green infrastructure.

Signals: Deploy!

10,000 Communities: With partners, Milken Institute is building a market to drive investment in community infrastructure. The recent announcement of 60 winners under the $7 billion Solar for All program capped the Environmental Protection Agency’s rollout of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund awards. “Now, market makers must align to help make sense of new capital flows and build standardized products and systems so private capital can walk alongside the unprecedented public investment in climate resilience,” writes ImpactAlpha contributor Rachel Reilly, an advisor to the Milken Institute. Ahead of next week’s Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., the Milken Institute’s 10,000 Communities Initiative unveiled partnerships and open-source tools for project sponsors and capital providers. 

Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent

Fiorella Schiffino, previously with Inovia Capital, joins Raven indigenous Capital Partners as chief financial officer… Northern Trust’s Lyle Logan joins the board of Impax Asset Management as a non-executive director… The Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation promotes Molly Porter to managing director… Candide Group is hiring a director of operations… The Pop Culture Collaborative seeks a director of impact and evaluation… Growald Climate Fund is looking for a manager of network leadership.

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How Big Tech can restore forests – and credibility in voluntary carbon markets
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10 tips to speed your transition to an impact finance career

There is no denying that impact finance is one of the most sought after spaces in finance right now, but what does it …

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