Objectives: The Initiative 20×20 is a regional initiative to support the restoration of 20 million hectares of degraded lands in Latin America by year 2020. In the long run, the initiative intends to assist in reversing the dynamics of land degradation in the region. It includes activities to capture land restoration goals in the region and support efforts to address existing barriers, present the economic case for land restoration through a report on monetization of societal benefits and costs, and assist in the implementation of a financial structure supportive of investments in land restoration by impact investors in the region.
This session focused on two aspects of Initiative 20×20 that are essential to reach scale with financing and investment:
- Present and solicit feedback on the financial architecture of Initiative 20×20. There are currently three core components to the financial architecture:
- Coalesce sources of equity and capital investment under an informal coalition of impact investors for specific land restoration opportunities;
- Identify sources of debt financing with the same vocation; and
- Develop a mechanism to address the risks of land restoration schemes in the region. The structure being proposed to mitigate some of these risks is a Partial Guarantee Mechanism.
- Discuss how to stimulate the deal flow pipeline for restoration activities in the region, with emphasis on governance and institutional capacity building for intermediation.
Through the session, the Initiative 20×20 sought insights to improve its financial architecture, by:
- Identifying the best structure for the risk management mechanism.
- Gaining new strategies for how to effectively build the deal flow pipeline through the public–private partnership of Initiative 20×20.
- Securing interest from additional potential partners for Initiative 20×20, including financiers, investors or technical assistance providers.
To leverage synergies, IUCN contributed with lessons learned from investments in Rwanda, Ghana, Mexico and Guatemala.
Background reading:
- WRI website overview of Initiative 20×20 (access website)
- Landscapes website overview of the launch of Initiative 20×20 (access website)
- Bonn Challenge website overview of Initiative 20×20 (access website)
- Investors Recruited to Restore Farmland in Latin America (New York Times, 2014)
- French: Climat : 7 pays d’Amérique latine s’engagent à restaurer 20 millions d’hectares de terres (Le Monde, 2014)
