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Proparco partners with AXA IM Alts to invest in nature and accelerate climate action
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Proparco has joined IFC and DEG in supporting AXA IM Alts’ Natural Capital & Impact strategy, which finances projects aimed at tackling deforestation, restoring ecosystems, and preserving biodiversity. Announced during COP30, this strategic partnership reflects Proparco’s ambition to mobilize greater public and private capital towards high-impact climate and environmental investments, in line with its Natural Capital Strategy.
AXA IM Alts, a global leader in alternative investments with over €188 billion of assets under management ($216 billion), has closed fundraising commitments from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, Proparco, and DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH), the French and German development finance institutions, for its Natural Capital and Impact investments strategy, now totalling over $560 million to date.
Building off AXA IM Alts’ long-standing expertise in land-based assets and impact investments, the Natural Capital and Impact investments strategy seeks to continue deploying capital into nature-based projects and the associated ecosystem which seek to deliver tangible results through carbon or other greenhouse gas reduction and sequestration alongside the protection and preservation of biodiversity. It focuses on financing companies and projects looking to address the drivers of deforestation, restore ecosystems in degraded areas and improve conservation efforts, quantified through the issuance of high-integrity carbon credits, complemented with environmental and social co-benefits. The portfolio combines strategic equity investments, through stakes in companies supporting natural capital ecosystems in local markets, and the provision of carbon solutions, with direct project financing. This strategy also seeks to build capacity to provide carbon solutions to serve the growing demand for carbon offsets.
Proparco's commitment was confirmed by Jean-Baptiste Sabatié, its Deputy Chief Executive Officer, at COP30 in Brazil, where a core objective is stewarding forests, oceans, and biodiversity, including specifically to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation, and efforts to protect and restore nature .
These new fundraising commitments highlight the credibility that AXA IM Alts has earned in the market, and the ongoing opportunity for private-public partnerships to solve challenging climate related and biodiversity issues together, while adding further capacity for large scale investments projects.
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.
Julien Vanhooydonck, Regional Director, Southern Cone (the southern part of South America), Proparco, said: “The world is facing an urgent dual challenge, climate change and biodiversity loss. We are proud to join forces with the AXA IM Alts team and to be partnering on this initiative with the EU Carbon Sinks programme to tackle the root causes of deforestation, restore vital ecosystems, and strengthen conservation efforts. Through the issuance of high-integrity carbon credits, this partnership will aim to deliver measurable climate impact alongside tangible environmental and social benefits. This initiative is fully in line with Proparco’s Natural Capital Strategy, designed to channel more investments towards the preservation and restoration of nature.”
