JPMorgan Chase & Co.

With the global population estimated to surpass 9 billion people by 2050, there is a growing need to maximize the pace, scale, and effectiveness of efforts to protect natural ecosystems – along with the communities that rely on them.  Recent reports show that more than half of global GDP relies on nature, yet we need to invest an additional $700 billion per year over the next ten years to reverse the critical decline in biodiversity. 

We are encouraged by the growing number of private companies setting science-based climate goals and incorporating nature into their business operations. To capitalize on this ambition and to harness the growing impact investment sector to create meaningful conservation impact, The Nature Conservancy, with founding support from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan), established NatureVest in 2014. This team’s mission is to build private investments that use commercial capital to deliver conservation at scale and transform the way we protect natural capital – the soil, clean air and water, and other valuable resources that nature provides.  To date, NatureVest has helped TNC and its partners close a portfolio of deals representing $1.3 billion in committed capital for conservation.    

As part of this effort, NatureVest convenes investors, develops and executes innovative financial transactions, and continues to build an investment pipeline across multiple sectors, including forestry, sustainable debt, agriculture, fisheries, and environmental markets. JPMorgan’s support of NatureVest has enabled us to make long-lasting conservation impacts across the world, including:

• The Seychelles Debt Conversion – The restructuring of $21 million of sovereign debt with the Government of Seychelles to generate a funding stream for marine protection and climate adaptations. As part of the transaction, Seychelles has placed more than 30% of its waters into permanent protection, with half of that area permanently protected from fishing.
• The Cumberland Forest Fund – A $130-million private investment fund that owns and manages 254,000 acres of forest in the U.S. Central Appalachians. As the Fund’s manager, TNC seeks to generate financial returns from sustainable forestry, carbon offsets and recreational leases while achieving important conservation outcomes in carbon sequestration, forest health, water quality, and local economic opportunities.
• The Sustainable Water Impact Fund – A partnership between TNC and Renewable Resources Group targeting transactions in Australia, Chile, and the U.S. As technical advisor, TNC works to delivers habitat and water conservation impact to benefit people, the environment, and the agricultural economy.

Through the NatureVest platform, we will continue closing the funding gap for nature by creating new opportunities to invest private capital in conservation projects that deliver financial returns and clear environmental benefits for generations to come. With JPMorgan’s continued support to TNC since 2013, we have built an institution-wide collaboration. In addition to supporting NatureVest, JPMorgan has made local, targeted commitments to conservation work led by TNC from Detroit to Cape Town, and Hong Kong to New York City.