From Ideas to Investment: What’s Next for Innovative Finance for Nature?

During Climate Week NYC, Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA), Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC), IUCN, and Morrison Foerster brought together practitioners, investors, conservation leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers, and partners to examine where innovative and private finance for nature stands today —and what is needed to increase its reach and impact.

The event, “What’s Next in Innovative Finance for Nature? From Ideas to Investment”, provided opportunities ahead and the practical work required to mobilize more finance for nature.

The discussions focused on some of the practical requirements for moving conservation finance solutions forward: building credible projects, strengthening the evidence behind them, developing appropriate financial structures, and connecting promising solutions with the capital and expertise needed to advance them.

Fireside Chat with Tanja Havemann: The State of Innovative Finance for Nature Opportunities and Challenges.

A deep dive with the Founder and Director of Clarmondial into sustainable agriculture finance and why sustainable agriculture is essential for conservation. 

Panel: The State of Private Finance for Nature: What's Working, Where Capital is Still Hesitant, and What the Next Five Years Could Bring

Genevieve Bennett shared Forest Trends’ latest research on private investment in nature, followed by a panel discussion with Tracy Farrell, Kurt Holle, Genevieve, and Kevin Webb on the opportunities and challenges shaping private finance for nature.

This dialogue connected the practical experience of developing conservation finance projects with a broader discussion about the conditions needed to mobilize additional private capital for nature.

CFA Incubator – Cohort 4

The CFA Incubator Showcase brought these conversations to life. Tanja Havemann, Harrison Carter, Patti Chu, Patrick Brown and David Meyers shared approaches from across the Incubator portfolio, while members of our mentor community contributed perspectives from their experience supporting conservation finance projects.

The exchange between presenters and participants reinforced the value of creating space for projects to receive candid feedback, make new connections, and strengthen their approaches.

The CFA Incubator is supported by Milkywire's Nature Transformation Fund, in collaboration with Klarna.

The CFA and CPIC would like to thank all of our partners for the CFA Incubator and this event: IUCN, Outrigger Impact, BNP Paribas, CI Ventures, Milkywire, Morrison Foerster, and Conservation Strategy Fund.

What's Next in Innovative Finance for Nature? From Ideas to Investment

A New York Climate Week 2026 event, hosted by Conservation Finance Alliance, Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation, IUCN, and Morrison Foerster

📅 Thursday, 24 September 2026, ⏰ 3:00–6:00pm

Nature underpins the global economy, yet almost none of its value shows up directly on financial statements. Innovative finance solutions and a pipeline of investable projects are needed to bring Nature into the markets and to help markets align with Nature's needs.

Join the Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) and the Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for a late afternoon event and networking that brings leading voices in private and innovative finance together for a deep dive and active engagement. The event convenes investors, dealmakers, and visionaries to share the latest innovations, watch live pitches for nature-finance deals, and discuss how to scale and replicate nature finance.

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Meet the Speakers

Panel -  The state of private finance for nature: what's working, where capital is still hesitant, and what the next five years could bring

Tracy Farrell - Moderator 

Director, North American Region, IUCN | CEO, IUCN-US

Tracy Farrell is Director of IUCN’s North American Region and CEO of IUCN-US. At the forefront of IUCN’s North American and global conservation efforts, her dual role encompasses steering policy work, engaging a membership network of nearly 200 organizations and government agencies, leading an international staff team of more than 40 people, and strengthening IUCN’s conservation, policy, and fundraising mission across the United States and Canada. With a focus on executive management, she is accountable for the financial, administrative, fundraising, and human resources functions of IUCN in North America and IUCN-US, ensuring the sustainability, alignment, and implementation of a $150 million portfolio.

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Christopher Vangerven

Sustainability, Climate & Nature Advisor, NASDAQ

Christopher Vangerven is an ESG professional focused on the intersection of corporate strategy, investor expectations, governance, and emerging sustainability risks. At Nasdaq, he advises companies on ESG, climate, and nature-related risks, with experience spanning fundamental company research, board and governance analysis, proxy and disclosure reviews, peer benchmarking, and institutional investor research. He has analyzed the priorities of more than 100 institutional investors and regularly translates complex analysis into practical recommendations for senior executives. Earlier in his career, Christopher gained investment research experience at Redburn Atlantic, conducting company and sector analysis and engaging with investor relations, operational, and sustainability leaders. He holds an MSc in Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment from UCL and the CFA Certificate in Impact Investing.

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Kurt Holle

Country Director - Peru  World Wildlife Fund

Kurt Holle is WWF Peru’s Country Director and leader of WWF’s Amazon Coordination Unit. He is a forestry engineer from La Molina Agrarian University with specializations in tourism management, leadership, and marketing, among others. For over 25 years he has worked to bring together biodiversity conservation and business under a vision of sustainability that generates benefits for local communities. Kurt has extensive experience as a consultant in sustainable business, product development, and marketing, having worked with organizations such as the Moore Foundation, Swisscontact, and Nature Services Peru.

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Genevieve Bennett

Senior Advisor, Forest Trends

Genevieve Bennett is Senior Advisor at Forest Trends, where she leads nature and carbon finance market intelligence and strategy. She is a recognized expert in translating ecological and natural capital data into actionable intelligence for asset managers and capital providers, with expertise spanning natural capital valuation, market design, and biodiversity credit development. She has published in Nature Sustainability and Science, among others. She is a CAIA Charterholder and holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Kevin Webb 

Co-Founder & Managing Director, Superorganism 

Kevin Webb is an early-stage venture capitalist and angel investor with more than a decade of experience investing in emerging companies. He previously helped found and run the Webb Investment Network, where he identified companies including Verkada, Turo, and Ironclad. He has spoken at the Smithsonian, Salesforce Climate Innovation Summit, Bloom, and the North American Congress of Conservation Biology, and has published in State of the Planet, Rewilding, and Make Magazine. He holds an MS in Sustainability Science from Columbia University and a degree in Human Biology from Stanford University.

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The CFA Incubator Showcase, a first look at investment-ready deals and concepts.

David Meyers- Moderator 

CFA Executive Director  | Nature’s Sovereign Wealth Fund

David Meyers is an environmental finance expert and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in sustainability, environmental economics, conservation, and business strategy. He has launched and managed several companies and worked in 46 countries, including more than a decade in Madagascar. He holds a doctorate from Duke University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

Nature’s Sovereign Wealth Fund seeks to develop a sovereign-scale fund with Nature as the owner and manager, creating a permanent source of funding for conservation and giving Nature a market position with the ability to invest, make markets, and hold governance weight comparable to major asset managers and sovereign wealth funds.

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Tanja Havemann 

Director/Founder Clarmondial AG |Mount Kenya Landscape Endowment

Tanja Havemann is the Founder and Director of Clarmondial, an independent advisory firm developing innovative and practical financing solutions for nature. She has more than 20 years of experience in sustainable finance and has worked with companies, investors, foundations, governments, NGOs, and international organizations to design and implement solutions to environmental challenges.
The Mount Kenya Landscape Endowment is a locally anchored financing mechanism designed to convert long-term capital into predictable annual funding for conservation and climate resilience. Investment returns will support community micro-grants, credit guarantees for small businesses, and performance-based incentives for regenerative agriculture and biodiversity protection.

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Harrison Carter

University of Oxford - Human Wildlife Coexistence (DPhil) | Lion Impact Bond 

Harrison Carter is a researcher with the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit and Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science. With a background in finance and management consulting, his work explores how economic systems and conservation finance can better incentivize coexistence between people and wildlife. He also leads WildCRU’s Incentivising Conservation research group.

The Lion Impact Bond is an outcome-based conservation finance mechanism designed to turn human-wildlife conflict into coexistence through a pay-for-success model. Working with pastoralist communities in Tanzania’s Selous-Nyerere landscape, it links community payments to measurable conservation outcomes and wildlife-friendly practices, with an initial $1.5–2 million pilot focused on large carnivore coexistence.

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Patricia Chu 

Managing Partner at Mana Impact | Mana Blue Planet Fund

Patricia “Patti” Chu is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Mana Impact, where she leads strategy, deal sourcing and evaluation, and project design and management. With a background in economics and finance, her experience spans financial institutions, foundations, corporations, and nonprofits, including the World Bank, Citigroup, and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network.
The Mana Blue Planet Fund seeks to address the growth-stage financing gap facing nature-positive enterprises and conservation projects in Asia. Using flexible debt terms and blended-finance tools, the Fund aims to help enterprises grow, deepen their impact, and access follow-on capital, with plans to deploy $5 million across 15–20 pilot investments in 2026–2027.

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Patrick Brown 

Executive Director  Equal Right | Climate Commons Fund

Patrick Brown is Executive Director of Equal Right, where he works at the intersection of climate justice, economic equity, and Universal Basic Income. He leads a global team working across research, advocacy, and cash-transfer projects in Kenya, Colombia, Tuvalu, and Brazil. He is a Churchill Fellow, TEDx speaker, and holds a PhD in Politics.
The Climate Commons Fund is an investment fund inspired by sovereign wealth fund models that uses investment returns to provide a universal “Climate Dividend” to populations in designated conservation areas. The model links the dividend to ecological performance at the landscape level, aiming to distribute conservation benefits equitably while devolving wealth and decision-making to local communities.

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The CFA Incubator is supported by Milkywire's Nature Transformation Fund, in collaboration with Klarna.

The CFA and CPIC would like to thank all of our partners for the CFA Incubator and this event:

Presentation Webinars from CFA Incubator Cohort 3

CFA and OCTO are hosting a series of webinars

The Webinar Series features five (5) webinars each with two projects per session that present the main conclusions and finance solutions developed by the 10 projects of CFA Incubator Cohort 3 during 2025.

The Webinar series, co-hosted with OCTO, is part of the CFA Incubator, supported by Milkywire’s Nature Transformation Fund, in collaboration with Klarna.

Meet the Cohort 3

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🌱 Webinar 1: Making Conservation Investable: Impact Bonds for People and Nature

🎣 The Salmon Impact Bond

Presented by Ross Dixon & Audrey Maria Popa (Coast Funds) and Raven Walkus (Wuikinuxv First Nation).
An Indigenous-led initiative advancing salmon habitat restoration and community development in Canada.

🔹 Karukinka’s Impact Bond and Sustainable Finance (WCS Chile)
Presented by Melissa Carmody (WCS Chile)
A diversified sustainable finance approach supporting the conservation of Karukinka Park in Tierra del Fuego, Chile.

📅 Tuesday, January 20 - ⏰ 11 am EST | 8 am PST | 1 pm CLST | 4 pm UTC | 4 pm GMT

👉 Watch the recording

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🌊 Webinar 2: Financing the Sustainable Transition of Small-Scale Fisheries

🐟 Marine Conservation Incentives
Presented by Hollie Booth (University of Oxford & Kebersamaan Untuk Lautan)
A scalable, evidence-based incentive model being piloted in Indonesia to protect marine biodiversity while safeguarding the livelihoods and wellbeing of coastal communities.

🔹 BlueMove Fund for Small-Scale Fisheries in Africa
Presented by Camille Richer and Yousr Benfadhel (BlueMove / BlueSeeds)
A new nature-positive fund combining technical assistance and concessional finance to support sustainable fishing, regenerative blue economy activities, and MPAs in Tunisia and Senegal.

📅 Thursday, January 22 - ⏰ 9 am EST | 6 am PST | 2 pm UTC | 3 pm CET | 10 pm WITA

👉 Watch the recording

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🌍 Webinar 3: Sustainable Finance in Africa: Tourism and Blended Finance Solutions

✈️ Global Green Visa®
Presented by Bhalin Singh (Prajna Ventures)
An innovative mechanism that embeds a transparent conservation contribution into national e-visa systems—transforming tourism into a consistent, scalable revenue stream for biodiversity.

🌿 Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) Infrastructure Finance Facility
Presented by Onkemetse Nteta (IUCN)
A regional blended finance facility designed to mobilize long-term funding for conservation and infrastructure across TFCAs in Southern Africa.

📅 Monday, January 26 - ⏰ 9 am EST | 6 am PST | 2 pm UTC | 3 pm CET | 4 pm CAT/SAST

👉 Watch the recording

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🌍 Webinar 4: Trust Funds as Engines for Nature Finance: Debt Conversion in Cuba and a Biodiversity and Climate Fund in Madagascar and Africa

🔹 Debt Conversion for Nature and a Conservation Trust Fund in Cuba
Presented by Fernando Bretos (Cresta Coastal Network)
A pioneering effort to develop Cuba’s first debt conversion for nature and an independent Conservation Trust Fund, channeling fiscal savings into biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and sustainable fisheries.

🔹 Mitsiry Biodiversity and Climate Technical Assistance Facility
Presented by Blanda Andrimamy & Lea Méléard (Miarakap)
A blended finance approach combining a $50M investment fund with a dedicated technical assistance facility to support biodiversity-positive enterprises in Madagascar and Eastern & Southern Africa.

📅 Thursday, February 5 - ⏰ 9 am EST | 6 am PST | 2 pm UTC | 5 pm EAT

👉 Watch the recording

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🌍 Webinar 5: Making Conservation Enterprises Investable: Low-Impact Scallop Harvesting and Improving Biodiversity Outcome Tracking

🐚 Finance Solutions for Sustainable Scallop Fisheries
Presented by Tom Hooper (Fishtek Marine Ltd)
An innovative, low-impact method for harvesting scallops using pots as an alternative to damaging dredging.

🦜 The BirdsPlus Index
Presented by Eliot Miller (American Bird Conservancy)
A science-based tool to measure, report, and validate biodiversity outcomes for conservation finance, impact investing, and nature-positive action.

📅 Thursday, February 12 - ⏰ 12 pm EST | 9 am PST | 5 pm UTC | 5 pm GMT | 6 pm CET

👉 Watch the recording

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