On September 20, 2017 Lab Members met in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly and New York Climate Week to endorse the six ideas from the Lab’s 2017 cycle. A broader group of investors and observer organizations joined for the Innovation Summit to participate in roundtable discussions on how to achieve impact for the newly endorsed instruments as well as those from previous cycles.
The 2017 Lab instruments are:
- The Cloud Forest Blue Energy Mechanism, which will engage hydropower operators in Latin America to pay for upstream forest conservation and restoration. Proposed by Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy, at scale, the initiative would restore and conserve 60 million hectares of cloud forest – an area nearly the size of Texas – with an associated market size of $12 billion to 2030.
- Climate Smart Cattle Ranching, which will provide technical assistance and finance for Brazilian cattle ranchers to adopt sustainable ranching practices. Proposed by Naturevest and The Nature Conservancy, operations could scale to cover 300,000 hectares in the first five years, mobilizing 200 million US dollars for sustainable cattle ranching practices.
- CRAFT, which will be the first private equity fund to focus on expanding available technologies and solutions for climate adaptation. Developed by the Lightsmith Group, the fund already has an initial pipeline of investments under due diligence.
- Distributed Generation for Cooperatives, which will scale up distributed renewable energy by partnering with agricultural cooperatives in Brazil. Proposed by Renobrax, will provide renewable energy that’s 10-20% less expensive than existing options.
- The Green FIDC, which tailors an existing financial structure in Brazil to provide lower-cost, long-term capital to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Proposed by Albion Capital and Get2C, the instrument is considering two initial pilots – energy efficient street lighting in Rio de Janeiro and a 90 MW solar PV project in the state of Ceará.
- The Renewable Energy Scale up Facility, which will use an innovative options mechanism to drive long-term, low-risk private finance into earlier stages of renewable energy projects in emerging markets. Proposed by Baker & McKenzie and Get2C, as it scales, the facility is expected to mobilize around $25 of commercial investment for every $1 of concessional investment, while significantly contributing to countries’ climate and energy goals
Endorsement Meeting:
Innovation Summit:
