Nature Finance Impact Hub: One Year On

One year ago, Accelar set up the Nature Finance Impact Hub. It began with 30 projects in 9 countries, representing 11 different types of ecosystem service. Over the course of the past year, we have continued to expand the Hub and develop the repository of nature positive projects that seek to generate revenue. We have been engaging with projects, investors, and collaborators to help accelerate the growth of the nature finance market by developing our digital offering. We’ve also been learning about innovative ways nature projects have been looking to generate revenue, whilst keeping a core focus on the positive environmental outcomes.

So what progress have we made? We now have 80 projects contained within the Impact Hub, across 28 countries and 15 ecosystem services. We’ve added in a new project submission page to allow projects to submit data directly, and we’ve launched a new ecosystem services page.

There are many learnings to be had across the Hub! We’ve seen nature-based tourism projects having a higher average revenue per project than all other types of ecosystem service. This is followed by carbon banking schemes. There has been a total of £3 billion of investment in the projects within the Hub, and we’ve seen a huge growth in the number of regenerative agricultural projects. Across all the projects for environmental outcomes, we’ve seen 10 million tCO2e captured. The projects have led to the restoration of 1.71 million hectares (e.g. woodland) and further conservation of 6.54 million hectares.

At Impact Hub HQ, we’re making sure we apply a strict quality assurance process on our projects. If the project doesn’t have a positive impact on nature, it doesn’t get included. If it doesn’t seek to generate revenue or financial returns, it also doesn’t make the cut. To ensure we don’t miss opportunities, we’ve now added in sustainable timber projects within the Hub. We’re aware of the controversy around this area, so we want to reiterate our quality assurance process. These projects take often degraded land to plant trees, that are then felled in a sustainable way – to benefit the ecosystems of our forests. In fact, nearly 2 million hectares of land has been protected as a result of these projects, with 2.64 million tonnes of carbon reduced.

There are still insights to be discovered within the Impact Hub, so why not register for a free account, and explore some of the projects. Whether you’re working to set up your own nature-finance project, or you’re interested in investing in one, there are plenty for you to look at within our Impact Hub!