By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media
Mirova, a mission-driven and sustainable investment manager and affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, announced the final close of the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDN Fund) exceeding $208 million.
Originally initiated by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 2015 and launched under the management of Mirova in 2017, the LDN Fund was put in place as part of the One Planet Summit’s commitments to mobilize private and public capital.
Under its impact mandate the vehicle will invest in profit-generating sustainable land use and land restoration projects in developing countries. More specifically, the fund backs ventures involved in sustainable land use – for example, agroforestry, regenerative and sustainable agriculture, and sustainable forestry on degraded lands with the intention of improving their sustainability and efficiency.
Value creation will be generated via sustainable production, higher quality output, and greater market access within sustainable supply chains, and targeted impacts include climate mitigation and adaptation, the protection of biodiversity, rural development, and gender equality.
“There are many solutions available to preserve and enhance natural capital,” said Gautier Quéru, director of the LDN Fund at Mirova. “The LDN Fund’s final close allows us, with the support of our investors, to accompany talented entrepreneurs through dedicated impact investments bringing much needed long term finance and spreading best practices.”
The fund is structured as a blended finance vehicle, mixing commercial and concessional capital to be independently managed by Mirova – which as a purpose-native and impact-driven asset manager was an early identifier of the latent potential of investing in nature-based solutions. For eight years Mirova’s teams have aimed to support and scale economically viable enterprises affecting a positive impact on natural capital and communities.
As such, the LDN Fund represents one of the three investment pillars of Mirova’s natural capital platform – sustainable land use – which also include the blue economy and the carbon and environmental assets pillars.
“The amount raised for a first fund of this type, unique in the world, demonstrates investors’ appetite for impact solutions,” said Philippe Zaouati, CEO, Mirova. “Blended finance helps in securing private investors thanks to the participation of major public investors. It is a powerful instrument to drive funds in new asset classes such as biodiversity and climate.”
Public investors who have committed capital include the European Investment Bank and Agence Française de Développement, as well as the British and Canadian governments. This public backing has helped Mirova bring on private investors to allocate more capital to sustainable land use.
So far, the fund has committed five investments in eight countries ranging from cocoa and coffee production, to restoring deforested areas in Latin America, to sustainable forestry, and tree nut production in Africa and Asia – all with a strong focus on smallholder inclusion.
An initial impact report has just been published outlining the tangible and quantifiable on-the-ground impacts to land rehabilitation and natural ecosystem restoration already being demonstrated through this fund, according to a recent announcement.
Additionally, the fund continues to actively seek out new investable opportunities with the potential to generate measurable impact to land rehabilitation and natural ecosystems restoration, as well as the creation of small business models that carry development benefits for communities and returns for investors.
– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.