Increasing responsible investing in agriculture, forestry and other land uses to reduce deforestation.

Market forces and irresponsible commercial investments, especially in agriculture, are driving the loss and degradation of forests in Southeast Asia at an alarming rate. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Green Invest Asia activity is a five-year sustainable landscape project that addresses the investment barriers to profitable, low-emission businesses in the agriculture, forestry and other land uses (AFOLU) sector.

APPROACH

USAID Green Invest Asia is designed to mobilize the power of the private sector and international markets to reduce commodity-driven deforestation and high-emissions agriculture practices across Southeast Asia.  The project enlists a consortium of partners to scale up responsible investments in the AFOLU sector through:

• Providing technical assistance to businesses and investors, identifying promising business models, and evaluating market conditions;
• Supporting lead actors to increase their potential to reduce forest and biodiversity loss and serve as early adopters of sustainable land use practices;
• Forging partnerships to grow the network of actors in the AFOLU and smart climate finance sectors to unblock barriers to investment; and
• Mainstreaming gender and social inclusion in climate smart finance and AFOLU businesses.

GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

USAID Green Invest Asia’s overall goal is to catalyze private finance to drive investment in the AFOLU sector toward profitable, low-emissions business models.

Objective 1 - Identify Investments

To build a more robust pipeline of investment-worthy low emission AFOLU projects, USAID Green Invest Asia aims to 1) identify business models used across a range of companies seeking to “green” their supply chains; 2) provide services that enable businesses to adopt on-farm, climate-smart technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and 3) increase opportunities for sustainable companies to access finance.

Objective 2 - Encourage Investments

In order to reduce the risk of “green” investments in the AFOLU sector, USAID Green Invest Asia draws on experts and industry networks to increase responsible investment. These actors build the knowledge and capacity of financial institutions to seek climate smart finance; to access customized financial services and products; and to adopt environment, social and governance standards.

Objective 3 – Build a community of practice in sustainable landscape finance

USAID Green Invest Asia engages the full range of stakeholders in the financial, forestry and agricultural sectors.  By working through existing networks, the activity will promote knowledge sharing and provide space for identifying business opportunities.  Furthermore, the activity will foster cooperation among stakeholders to address systemic issues that hinder access to sustainable land use financing.

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