LGT VP will work with the The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to formally set up, operationalize and scale the Facility, support the launch of of India's first ever Water Fund and link the Facility's carbon outcomes with LGT Group's broader Net Carbon Zero targets.
Water Funds are multi-stakeholder ‘collective action’ platforms that leverage Nature-based Solutions to improve water security by ensuring the delivery of an adequate quantity and quality of water. An example of a Nature-based Solution is the removal of invasive plant species from critical source watersheds in Cape Town, South Africa. This simple intervention is expected to free up two months of additional freshwater for the city at one-tenth of the cost of alternative, grey-infrastructure solutions. A public-private partnership of donors (governments, philanthropists) and water consumers (utilities, corporates, industrial users) typically contributes to the Water Fund model.
The Facility seeks to leverage TNC's 20+ years of practical Water Funds experience. It will accomplish this by centralizing a team of scientists and functional experts to support local champions seeking to develop and establish watershed investment programs. The Facility is co-managed by TNC and Pegasys – an Africa-based sustainable infrastructure consultancy – and will provide strategic technical advisory and operational assistance based on local needs.
TNC's NFW fits well into LGT VP's environment strategy, which centers around the protection and regeneration of ecosystems, with a strong component of Nature-based Solutions that are embedded in the local community. To that end, LGT VP's environment portfolio supports scalable models that protect and restore terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems. Oliver Karius, CEO of LGT VP, explains: “Water is the essence of life. Given the rate of environmental destruction, we face a race against time to ensure that critical watersheds and the local communities living there are protected and that their resilience is strengthened. The Facility is an innovative and scalable solution, that elegantly aligns stakeholders towards a common goal of protecting watersheds in an integrated manner. We are excited to work with TNC and the Facility to scale this solution.”
Read the full press release here.