Marine Conservation Finance – options for future investment

The Scottish Forum recently hosted the first webinar for our new Conservation Finance Pioneers’ Working Group, that explored different options for investing in the marine environment.

Hosted on our online Basecamp hub, the event was open to all members of the new working group, with three presentations from invited guests to introduce examples of marine funds, that are either established, or being developed, The aim of the webinar was to increase awareness of existing activity in this area, and stimulate thinking around potential opportunities for Marine Conservation Finance.

The first presentation came from Gail Hurley, who is an independent researcher and advisor on sustainable finance. Gail has worked with the UN on several marine conservation finance initiatives in various countries around the world, and shared her perspectives on potential different approaches to marine fund development.

This was followed by a presentation from Olivia Bennett, a Senior Associate at Finance Earth, who described the Blue Impact Fund, which Finance Earth have led with WWF since 2018. The fund aims to build a diversified portfolio of investments that can generate attractive returns while delivering ocean resilience and recovery.

Lastly, we heard from Sarah Brown, who is Fund Manager of a new Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF). This exciting new initiative was founded by a partnership between public bodies, NGOs and industry, that aims to support the delivery of marine and coastal environmental enhancement activities in Scottish waters.

The webinar then concluded with a lively Q&A and discussion, exploring some of the themes which arose from the three presentations.

This was the first of what will be regular webinars and events that will be available through the Basecamp site.The Scottish Conservation Finance Pioneers working group is open to anyone to join with an interest in advancing conservation finance in Scotland. To join follow this link.

To watch a full video of the event follow this link