As countries build back their economies from COVID-19, governments have a unique opportunity to scale up and channel public and private finance toward protecting and restoring nature. Financing Nature-based Solutions for Green and Inclusive Recovery in Latin America is a new project led by UNEP and UN-REDD in collaboration with FAO, UNDP, ECLAC and UN resident Coordinators.
The Financing Nature-based Solutions for Green and Inclusive Recovery in Latin America project provides technical assistance, analytical guidance, and support to three beneficiary countries in Latin America, on how to create an enabling policy environment to scale-up public and private finance and investments for nature-based solutions toward more sustainable, inclusive and resilient food, forest and land-use systems.
For public finance, the main spotlight will be on how to realign or redirect public finance by removing perverse incentives and creating fiscal space to deal with debt and finance the recovery plans, providing incentives that reward good land management practices and other mechanisms such as ecological fiscal transfers.
Another aim is to leverage private finance through various proposed initiatives and exercises, for example through the smart design of the enabling fiscal policy environment to create incentives to help scale up and redirect private sector lending, project finance and equity investments from commercial banks and (impact) investors towards nature-positive and climate-positive activities across the food system.
To promote a green but also inclusive recovery in Latin America, throughout its timeline, the project’s support will also include comprehensive analytical guidance about how investments in nature can promote equity and inclusion, as well as help identify areas with important biodiversity and other ecosystem services that people and nature depend on.
By doing so, the Financing Nature-based Solutions for Green and Inclusive Recovery in Latin America project contributes to improving the capacities of policymakers, banks, and private investors in the target countries in Latin America to develop and implement policies and strategies to shift investments and financing towards nature-based and climate-neutral strategies for sustainable food systems. As such, it is contributing to the delivery of the Paris Climate Agreement and the SDGs.
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