This publication explores some of the barriers that hinder external finance from making greater contributions to the sustainability of landscapes in the global south. It provides insights into the potential of blended finance, green bonds and crowdfunding structures to contribute to bridging that gap. The document is meant for investors that are new to land-based investments in the global south and are particularly interested in achieving social and environmental impacts. It is also written for development organizations with little experience in leveraging private finance for local development and conservation and for future practitioners in this field. The authors identified several gaps in knowledge and experiences, and it is hoped that through this document the readers will be motivated to fill in those gaps in the near future, contributing to scaling up finance for sustainable and inclusive landscapes.

Developing countries need additional, cross-border capital channeled into their private sectors to generate employment and growth, reduce poverty, and meet the other Millennium Development Goals. Innovative financing mechanisms are necessary to make this happen. 'Innovative Financing for Development' is the first book on this subject that uses a market-based approach. It compiles pioneering methods of raising development finance including securitization of future flow receivables, diaspora bonds, and GDP-indexed bonds. It also highlights the role of shadow sovereign ratings in facilitating access to international capital markets. It argues that poor countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa, can potentially raise tens of billions of dollars annually through these instruments. The chapters in the book focus on the structures of the various innovative financing mechanisms, their track records and potential for tapping international capital markets, the constraints limiting their use, and policy measures that governments and international institutions can implement to alleviate these constraints.

Sustainability thinking is rapidly gaining traction. It offers an inspiring vision for the future of the world and provides significant business and investment opportunities. Based on insights from over 300 empirical studies, this book explores the possibilities in the field of renewable energy finance, carbon trading, and sustainable investing. In addition, it describes innovative finance mechanisms – such as green bonds and peer-to-peer lending – that may further spur environmental and social sustainability. By taking an empirical, fact-based approach, this book aims to provide investors, business executives, and policymakers with a more thorough understanding of how sustainable finance can create value for business and society. Key words: Sustainable finance, renewable energy finance, cleantech, green investing, sustainable investments, responsible investments, carbon trading, carbon finance, ESG, impact investing.

The Rehabilitation of Degraded Agricultural Lands (RDAL) project by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), in partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka through the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment (MMDE), aims to encourage the use of sustainable land management practices in agricultural lands in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s role in this project involves developing innovative financing mechanisms to promote Sustainable Land Management (SLM). In order to achieve this, IUCN has formulated an approach which is laid out in this report the Innovative Financing Mechanisms for Promoting Sustainable Land Management (SLM). Developing innovative financing mechanisms that are tailored to the environmental, economic and socio-cultural context of paddy, vegetable, home garden and tea farmers in the central highlands of Sri Lanka will enable and promote the use of SLM practices which in turn will contribute to the rehabilitation and prevention of further degradation of these lands. This report is divided into two main parts where the first part is a general guideline to aid the identification and development of potential IFMs for sustainable land management in agricultural lands in Sri Lanka, and the second part outlines the process followed by IUCN to identify potential IFMs for the RDAL project.

The preservation of forests, sustainable forest management (SFM), forest landscape restoration (FLR) and the need to make the most of precious forest resources are priority issues in the policy and sustainable development agenda of the Asia-Pacific region. Innovation will be key in the coming decades to meet the increasing demand for wood and other forest products while halting and reversing deforestation, in line with the commitment taken at COP26 in Glasgow by the international community. However, uptake of innovative technologies has been slow and uneven in the Asia-Pacific region, and there remains a gap between political commitments and the investments – in education, capacity building, and infrastructure development – required to put them into practice. This technical report examines the potential and barriers to disseminating and deploying innovative technologies for SFM in the region and provides overarching recommendations and specific options for decision-makers. It delineates and informs the process by which decision-makers and actors can identify: the potential of innovative technologies to advance SFM; their potential impacts; constraints to technology uptake and scaling up, and how to overcome these constraints and facilitate adoption.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Sustainable Development and Finance explores the difficult and challenging issues confronting society and the environment, in the contexts of unprecedented climate change, bio-diversity loss and the global pandemic. In this seminal text exploring a wide range of topics, and in the devastating wake of COVID-19, scholars and practitioners analyse the effectiveness of current and proposed actions to build a sustainable future, and the public and private finance necessary to prevent an impending planetary catastrophe. The first section of the handbook introduces readers to the origins and evolution of sustainable development. An examination of public and private finance follows in the next two sections, presented from the perspectives of authors from both ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries. Climate change, one of the largest sectors of finance for sustainable development, is investigated in detail, as is the new and emerging development frontier, the ‘blue’ economy of the world’s oceans. Suitable for students, policymakers and the public at large, the handbook highlights the lessons learned and points the way forward for sustainable development and finance in the wake of the global pandemic, and the challenges to come.