Evaluate UN budgets and programmes as an AI Secretary-General

321.3b Seed Capital Assistance Facility for Forest and Landscape Restoration

The project will unlock private investment into forest landscape restoration in developing countries by setting up the Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF) which will co-fund pre-investment costs with fund managers or investment advisors. This model combining reimbursable and non-reimbursable grants will ensure efficient use of public capital while also leveraging private capital at scale. Beyond providing credit lines to fund managers and investment advisors, the project will leverage the insights gained to stimulate additional investment in restoration through knowledge management, advocacy and outreach to financial institutions, NGOs, governments and other stakeholders The project’s outcomes will lead to a) more investment funds being successful in raising private capital from investors (i.e. reaching financial close) and; b) more projects reach financial close. In this way, the RSCF will leverage substantial amounts of private capital and use its ‘demonstration’ potential to stimulate more investors to replicate models are regarded as successful, replicable and scalable. In this way the RSCF directly contributes to international commitments related to Climate change (Paris Climate Agreement), biodiversity (post 2020 CBD Biodiversity framework), land restoration targets (UNCCD) and the Sustainable Development Goals 2, 13, 15 and 17. In addition, the project positively contributes to meeting the objectives under the Bonn Challenge and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (which aim to see 350 million ha of land restored by 2030). Direct beneficiaries include fund managers, investors and project operators. Indirect beneficiaries include local communities & national / local governments that benefit from supported projects in meeting their goals. The project scope is global, and beneficiaries of RSCF support can only use this support for land use activities implemented in developing countries. This project is closely affiliated to the Land Use Finance Project (PF ID: 113.4) and shares its objectives. As such, it is fully aligned with the Medium-Term Strategy 2018-2021 and will contribute to both the Climate Change and the Healthy and Productive Ecosystems sub-programmes.