JAKARTA, INDONESIA – April 28, 2015 – ADM Capital today unveiled details of a suggested $1 billion bond programme to provide much needed finance for forest conservation and development.
The Rainforest Impact Bond (RIB) would be the first such finance mechanism to protect forests, offering investors the means to help countries cut deforestation and reduce global carbon emissions.
“The RIB mechanism would also provide much-needed capital for sustainable development near sensitive landscapes globally”, according to Chris Botsford, co-founder of ADM Capital, an investment manager with over two decades of investment experience in Asia.
Introduced at the Tropical Landscapes Summit, “the RIB has grown out of an urgent need to slow forest destruction globally”, Botsford said.
“Aid and philanthropy alone cannot protect our forests. We urgently need more capital, not only for conservation but to meet the development needs of communities who live near forests. People need power, better healthcare, education, enhanced livelihoods or jobs. We cannot protect forests if we don’t link conservation to development.”
While previous forest protection bonds have been largely agriculture or carbon-linked, the RIB proposes a structure that uses sovereign aid commitments linked to stemming global climate change. Governments globally have committed an estimated $5 billion dollars to help developing countries protect their forests.
Indonesia alone has affirmed it will reduce its carbon emissions by between 26 and 41 percent by 2020 and slowing deforestation will be a large part of achieving those targets.
Estimates are that Indonesia alone needs $10 billion by 2020 to halve deforestation. This includes critical community development to reduce pressure on forests. An estimated 50 percent of Indonesia’s 250 million-strong population still live on less than $2 a day.
In 1998 ADM Capital began investing in Asia providing capital and solutions to help companies grow. The firm, with US$1.3 billion under management, has offices in Hong Kong, London, Istanbul, Mumbai, and Almaty, and is a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investing.
Established in 2006, ADM Capital Foundation puts non-profit capital to use to address environmental challenges across Asia.
