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Proparco partners with Ardian to invest in nature and accelerate climate action
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Alongside the European Investment Bank (EIB) and British International Investment (BII), Proparco is participating – as a lead investor – in the first €100 million funding round of the Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) initiative led by Ardian.
This investment is part of Proparco's "Natural Capital" strategy and aims to finance afforestation, reforestation, revegetation (ARR) as well as wetland restoration projects in emerging countries. The initiative will help sequester 85 million tons of CO₂ over 40 years, while protecting biodiversity and improving the living conditions of local communities. It also aligns with Proparco's objective of mobilizing finance: to mobilize €1 of private finance for every euro invested on our balance sheet.
Ardian, a world-leading private investment firm, today announces that it has secured commitment from several Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Proparco. British International Investment (BII) have decided to provide commitment to the Nature Based Solutions fund. Total fund commitments from anchor investors will stand for a total of c. €100m by year end to Ardian’s Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) strategy.
Averrhoa NBS is a SFDR Article 9 impact fund overseen by Ardian’s Infrastructure team in partnership with aDryada, a specialist developer and manager of large-scale ecosystem restoration projects. The strategy is dedicated to investing in afforestation, reforestation, revegetation (ARR as well as wetlands and mangroves restoration projects, intended to protect biodiversity while enabling the sequestration of large volumes of carbon from the atmosphere via natural carbon sinks. The strategy aims to sequester 85 million tons of carbon over a period of 40 years . These anchors investors, including FDJ United and Mutuelle d’Ivry (La Fraternelle), will allow the fund to secure a €100m first round of commitment, and to attract institutional investors and corporate seeking to have positive environmental and social impact through their investment activities.
As well as sequestering carbon, Averrhoa NBS projects will seek to contribute to climate mitigation by preserving water resources and improving soil and air quality. The aim is to rebuild ecosystems and to protect natural habitats and biodiversity through richer and stronger ecosystems, as well as bringing sustainable income and investments in social infrastructures to local communities.
Over 50% of global GDP depends on healthy ecosystems, yet biodiversity loss is threatening economic stability, warns the World Bank. Forests are vanishing at 5 million hectares a year, while rising temperatures make the 1.5°C target harder to reach and are driving unprecedented species loss, endangering food security, climate resilience, water access, and public health. Ardian is contributing to address these challenges by developing high integrity, nature based carbon capture projects that also intend to restore biodiversity, benefit local communities, and support growing demand for credible net zero solutions.
Ardian strives to address a shortage of projects in this area. Large buyers are prioritizing nature-based solutions projects to achieve net zero due to their potential to restore biodiversity and create benefits for local communities.
Ardian’s NBS team has built a robust pipeline across Latin America, Africa and Asia through the careful selection of developers and high integrity projects.
The NBS strategy forms a central part of Ardian’s broader decarbonization agenda. This track record includes financing 8.2GW of heat and renewable energy and its €2bn Hy24 hydrogen infrastructure fund. Ardian also provides capital solutions to companies committed to reducing their carbon footprint, with 11,000 portfolio companies committed to Science-based Target Initiative (SBTI) to support global net-zero target.
This project benefits from EDFI Carbon Sinks, a guarantee managed by EDFI Management Company and funded by the European Union under the EFSD+ programme, as part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy. EFSD+ (European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus) is a key instrument within the EU investment framework designed to mobilise private sector financing for sustainable development in partner countries.
Jean-Baptiste Sabatié, deputy CEO at Proparco: “As part of Proparco’s Natural Capital strategy, we are proud to partner with Ardian, aDryada, and the EU CarbonSinks Programme to support long-term investments in high-quality afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation projects. These initiatives will remove carbon from the atmosphere while also delivering strong climate, biodiversity, and socio-economic benefits for local communities.”
