EIB Group promotes biodiversity in Europe with €60 million guarantee for Sienna Investment Managers fund

• The European investment fund (EIF) is providing a €60 million guarantee to the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund devoted to restoring and protecting biodiversity in Europe.
• The guarantee will make financing more accessible for earlier-stage biodiversity projects and projects with relatively weak collateral.
• Backed by InvestEU Sustainability Guarantee, the operation will advance EU environmental goals.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is providing a €60 million guarantee to asset manager Sienna IM to increase financing for biodiversity in Europe. The support is being provided by the EIF, part of the EIB Group, to cover financing by the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund[1], a fund devoted to restoring and protecting biodiversity in Europe. The EIF guarantee covers up to 70% of the credit risk of small and medium firms and is being granted under the InvestEU Sustainability Guarantee.

It will enable the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund to provide new financing for European companies and projects committed to promoting the underfunded field of biodiversity – now threatened by pollution, overfarming, climate change, the depletion of natural resources and the spread of invasive species. With impact clauses that make it possible to clearly measure the progress of fund beneficiaries, the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund aims to demonstrate its tangible impact and attract more private capital to biodiversity.

“The protection and restoration of biodiversity are no longer a niche objective; they are essential to Europe’s long-term economic growth, food security and adaptation to climate change,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “The Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund will help mobilise more private capital, and this guarantee illustrates how we act as a catalyst to scale up financing for biodiversity projects.”

An Article 9 fund under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund has a target size of €200 million. Last year, it received an initial €100 million commitment from the France-based Malakoff Humanis Group. Over 36 months, the fund will help finance projects and businesses that protect, restore and enhance natural capital in Europe, or target a major reduction in environmental footprint.

The goal of the operation is to make financing more accessible for earlier-stage biodiversity projects and projects with relatively weak collateral.

“The EIF’s endorsement is a significant opportunity for the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund –offering advantages in terms of risk management, deployment capacity and the ability to mobilise investors,” said Sienna IM private debt Deputy CEO Fabrice Rossary. “We have already identified several promising deals on which to deploy this guarantee.”

Sienna IM will apply credit policies, technology and due diligence to ensure that each investment meets the highest standards. The new guarantee builds on previous agreements between the EIF and Sienna IM.

“This signature marks a real milestone for us: our first-ever biodiversity‑focused guaranteed fund, broadening the impact of our green toolkit,” said EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt. “The green transition is as much about survival as it is an economic imperative – and action cannot wait. We now look forward to the ideas and solutions that the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund will help bring to life.”

The EIB Group’s financing for agriculture and the bioeconomy last year reached €7.7 billion, up 22% from 2024.

Background information

EIB Group

The EIB Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion of new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects serving eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investment union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructure, the EIB Group crowds in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations.

The EIF is the subsidiary of the EIB specialised in providing equity, guarantees and securitisations to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs. 

High-quality, up-to-date photos of the organisation’s headquarters for media use are available here.

InvestEU

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps to crowd in private investment for strategic EU priorities like the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Sienna Investment Managers

Sienna IM is a multi-expertise asset manager with a team of around 110 professionals. Spanning listed and private assets, Sienna IM builds bespoke and innovative solutions for its clients. As of the end of December 2025, the Group had around €33 billion under management, of which over 90% was SFDR Article 8 or 9.

To get the latest updates on Sienna IM initiatives, follow the company on LinkedIn. For more information, please visit the company’s website.

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[1] Managed by Sienna AM France, an AMF-approved management company n°GP97118, entity that develops the private debt expertise within the Sienna Investment Managers group.​