Day One.
Panel Discussion on Finance
What does the value chain need and expect from finance organisations? How can these needs be better met? Upstream, what impact can financial institutions have on land use? What practical solutions do they have for influencing the market? Downstream, how can financial institutions play a role in pushing for greater demand for responsible sourcing? What role can investors play in encouraging banks to develop new products that are socially and environmentally responsible? The afternoon session of Day One of RT14 included a panel with representatives from a mixture of banks, investors and blended finance institutions. Lucian Peppelenbos from APG Asset Management acted as moderator and launched the panel discussion by affirming the huge expectations many had for how finance could be a game changer on soy, both in terms of creating the right market conditions for greater demand, but also making it profitable to be a responsible producer.
As a global fund manager with responsibility for the pension fund covering 4.5 million people, he asserted that their particular balancing act was to avoid portfolio risk while also recognising the need to be a sustainable investor. Rabobank’s Director of Sustainability, Bas Rüter, was also on the panel and emphasised the institution’s drive to find innovative approaches to delivering sustainability as well as a return on investment. This has led the Bank to partner up with UN Environment to launch their AGRI3 Fund, with the aim of unlocking at least USD 1 billion in finance towards deforestation-free, sustainable agriculture and land use. The overarching goal is to ‘de-risk’ an investment in responsible production models. Doing so, the fund can also play a part in addressing the climate crisis, with a focus on reduction in GHG emissions too. Running for the next 5 to 10 years, the Fund will seek to support innovative schemes that promise zero deforestation, sustainable agricultural practices and that improve rural livelihoods too. For Johnny Brom of Sail Ventures, this all has to become ‘business as usual’. His boutique investment company is the advisor to &Green. The Fund was launched in 2017 with US$100m of capital with a mission to prove that financing inclusive, sustainable and deforestation-free commodity production can be commercially viable and replicable.
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