Sustainability-focused investment manager Mirova and REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) project developer EP Carbon announced today the launch of the Mirova Natural Capital Solutions Accelerator aimed at identifying and developing projects that will help eliminate carbon emissions from land use sectors, and turn them from a net source to a net sink of emissions.

The accelerator will focus on  Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector carbon projects that can mitigate and adapt to manmade climate change, and deliver positive impacts for both biodiversity and local communities.

Mirova stated that meeting the climate goals of the Paris Agreement will require the elimination of emissions from these land use sectors, including the halting of deforestation, and the conversion of natural ecosystems to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, combined with the expansion of forest and landscape restoration activities to generate emissions removals. According to Mirova, while such Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) have the potential to achieve 37% of the cost-effective CO2 mitigation required by the year 2030, less than 5% of climate finance has been directed towards climate change mitigation in the land use sector.

The accelerator will act as a platform for the identification and development of private-finance ready high-impact NCS carbon projects. According to the partners, projects accepted into the accelerator will benefit from technical carbon project development support and expertise from an established and leading global carbon project developer, and from improved visibility on securing the investment required to establish and operate projects through placement within Mirova’s expanding stable of impact investment funds. The accelerator will enable private investment to be channelled towards projects that contribute positively to climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, while also generating financial returns.