Expanding Finance for Nature-Based Solutions to Achieve Climate, Environment, and Community Goals: An Introduction for Green Banks and Community Lenders
There has been unprecedented recent government investment in nature-based solutions. This document lays out a vision that describes why nature-based solutions are relevant and important to green banks and CDFI's climate- and community-driven missions, and what types of projects these institutions might support.
Financing Nature-Based Solutions via the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
The $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—particularly the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund and $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator—represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to leverage private capital for investments in environmental infrastructure and nature-based solutions, but the groundwork needs to be laid now. This document summarizes the relevant GGRF funds and their applicability for nature-based solutions.
Financing Nature-Based Solutions Using Green Banks
Recent government investment in nature-based solutions (NBS) through programs funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is unprecedented, but there is still a need for scaled-up financing of NBS projects in the US. This presents an opportunity to leverage green banks’ financing capabilities. Green banks typically focus on financing clean energy projects, but there is a small (and growing) number of instances in which these financial institutions have been leveraged for nature-based projects.
In this July 2023 event, panelists detailed past examples and proposed concepts for financing NBS using green banks, also sharing insights about scaling up implementation of these types of financial mechanisms.