Name: Webinar series – investing in nature: part 5
Start: 2020-10-14 02:00
End: 2020-10-14 02:00

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EU B@B Platform have teamed up to organise a webinar series on financing conservation and nature-based solutions.

Access to investment finance is frequently seen as a barrier by businesses in scaling up projects and innovations that benefit natural capital and biodiversity. On the other side of the table, banks and other investors struggle to develop a pipeline of investible projects that enhance natural capital and biodiversity.

This webinar series aims to help participants to better understand and overcome barriers to investing in nature, and thereby facilitate investment in natural capital and biodiversity-related projects and innovations. It is in particular targeted at project developers (public and private businesses, cities or municipalities) but will also benefit non-governmental organisations, consultancy companies and individuals seeking to increase their practical knowledge in the field.

The event draws on EIB’s recent publication “Investing in Nature”, which provides a practical guide on how to put together investment propositions. The webinar series has so far covered the fundamentals of financing investments in natural capital, explored the business models, provided guidance on how to prepare financial and commercial viability of a project and outlined the different types of financing, based on the experience of EIB and other investors and businesses themselves (for more details about past webinars, see below).

The objectives of this last webinar in the series are as follows:

Outline the fundamentals of legal due diligence
Review the implications of different legal structures and their pros and cons in relation with various types of financing (direct lending, intermediated investments, framework loans etc.)
Provide practical examples based on the experience of a diverse set of panellists, combining perspectives from a law firm, an investment fund manager and the EIB

PROGRAMME:

Introduction and welcome

Lars Müller, Policy Officer, DG Environment, European Commission and Coordinator of the EU B@B Platform

Panel discussion (followed by Q&A)

Thomas Lugez, Counsel – New Products Division, EIB
Benoît Dardenne, Counsel, Van Campen Liem
- Van Campen Liem is a boutique law firm focusing on the alternative asset management sector. The firm provides fund formation, fund review, corporate M&A and other legal services to asset managers and institutional investors (such as development finance institutions and prominent fund of funds or pension funds). Van Campen Liem has extensive experience in advising client in the private equity, venture capital, infrastructure, microfinance and climate change space, both on the asset manager and investor side. The firm is established in Amsterdam and Luxembourg.
Darius Sarshar, Investment Director, SLM Partners Ltd
- SLM Partners is an asset manager that acquires and manages rural land on behalf of institutional investors. Their mission is to scale up regenerative, ecological farming and forestry systems that deliver financial returns and environmental benefits.
Annick Paradis, Executive Director at Pollination (moderator)
- Pollination is a specialist climate change and advisory and investment firm, accelerating the transition to a net zero, climate resilient future. Annick has broad experience advising both public and private sector clients, including governments and philanthropies, on the challenges of climate change and natural capital.