The Green Climate Fund (GCF) – Conversation between Claudia Arce and Dr. Jochen Harnisch

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) aims at mobilizing funding at scale to low-emission and climate-resilient projects and programmes in developing countries. KfW was among the first Accredited Entities of the Fund and has successfully submitted one of the first project proposals to the GCF, called Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Mainstreaming in Bangladesh. Jochen Harnisch (KfW-Head of Division Climate) interviews Claudia Arce (KfW-Director South Asia) and Johannes Scholl (Project Manager of the KfW project in Bangladesh) on chances and challenges arising from as well as their first experiences with the GCF.
Source: www.kfw.de

The German development bank KfW invests USD 25 million into eco.business fund to bolster biodiversity

The eco.business Fund announced on 9 September 2016 that it has received a commitment of USD 25 million from Germany’s KfW Development Bank to promote biodiversity and climate change adaptation and mitigation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The deal marks the largest commitment to eco.business to date, and the investment has been designated for the purchase of senior shares in the fund.
The commitment from Frankfurt-based KfW is expected to allow the impact investment fund to both attract further investors and support additional projects on the ground. The eco.business Fund generally provides loans to Latin American financial institutions which on-lend that funding to end-clients for businesses and projects with a significant impact on biodiversity and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The eco.business Fund Chairman Dr. Jens Mackensen said: “This commitment from KfW is a sign of trust in our business model. It will allow us to further expand financing to fortify and increase biodiversity-friendly business practices in Latin America and the Caribbean. As what will be the largest investment in the fund to date, KfW’s support underlines the rapid success of the fund and the projects it supports.”
About the eco.business Fund
The eco.business Fund is spearheading the preservation and promotion of biodiversity through private enterprises. In providing finance for investing in activities that conserve nature and foster biodiversity, the eco.business Fund seeks investments that yield both financial and environmental returns. The eco.business Fund provides funding mainly through local financial institutions for onlending to eligible final borrowers. Eligible final borrowers include those holding an eligible certification or those making improvements that are in line with conservation and biodiversity goals. The Fund supports sustainable operations in the sectors of agriculture, fishery, forestry and eco-tourism. The eco.business Fund leverages contributions from donors, multilateral organizations and development finance institutions with funding from private investors to maximize outreach and impact. Seed capital has been provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with KfW being the main sponsor. Finance in Motion is also an investor. Operating hand-in-hand with the eco.business Fund is the eco.business Development Facility, which provides high-impact technical assistance to local lending institutions and final borrowers.
For more information, please visit www.ecobusiness.fund