Canada Commits C$55m to Mirova’s Land Degradation Neutrality Strategy

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his country will invest up to C$55m in Mirova’s Land Degradation Neutrality approach. The strategy forms part of the Natural Capital and Nature-Based Solutions investment platform developed by Mirova over the last five years.

The announcement was made at the One Planet Summit Biodiversity event on January 11, staged by France, in partnership with the United Nations and the World Bank. Mirova chief executive Philippe Zaouati, who took part in the event, said: “We welcome the confidence placed in us by the Canadian Government, as well as by President Emmanuel Macron who welcomed Mirova’s commitment to advancing sustainable finance during the summit.”

The Land Degradation Neutrality approach is an innovative strategy set up by Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, in conjunction with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The strategy was created to make long-term investments in sustainable land management and in natural capital projects worldwide, protecting and restoring nature.

It has previously attracted strong support from public investors including the European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement, Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg and UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The team has invested in five projects to date, worth a combined $60 million. The existing projects are: agroforestry in Peru; sustainable orchards and hazelnut production in Bhutan; large scale reforestation in Ghana and Sierra Leone; and timber in Kenya. The latest project, announced in January 2021, was a profit-sharing loan of $15m to a cocoa and coffee project in Central America.

“Large numbers of governments, non-government agencies and private investors worldwide have backed nature and climate objectives,” said Zaouati. “Most people accept we are overexploiting nature and underinvesting in addressing the causes of it. Investors have an opportunity to generate climate and biodiversity benefits, improve living conditions for millions of people and access attractive returns.” 

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are defined by IUCN as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems,that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”.

The concept of “Land Degradation Neutrality” hit the news in 2015 when it became one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The UN set a target of achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) worldwide by 2030. So far, more than 120 countries have signed up to one or more LDN-related initiatives.