Closing three transactions totalling $50 million the last year, SAIL Ventures (SAIL), the investment advisor to the &Green Fund (&Green), has sought to generate climate positive returns in tropical agri-commodity production.
With these additional investments, SAIL Ventures said &Green's portfolio now has 1.97 million hectares of natural tropical forest under conservation; 1,400 hectares of natural tropical forest under restoration; 247,000 hectares of 'sustainably intensified land'; approximately 32 million tCO2e of emissions benefits; 25,000 jobs created; and 9,800 smallholders to be supported.
The transactions closed by SAIL in the last year also include a $30 million investment in Brazilian business Fueling Sustainability (FS) to support sustainable land use practices of corn and soy producers in the Mato Grosso (MT) region.
Suppliers will be required to conserve their forests to be regarded eligible suppliers of FS' production plants. Corn and soy production will need to be deforestation-free, a commitment that has historically been difficult to secure from Brazilian soy producers.
SAIL has also secured a further $33.25 million of long-term financing from the UK government's Mobilising Finance for Forests (MFF) program, via FMO, the Dutch development bank.
It is hoped the funding will further strengthen SAIL and &Green's capacity to drive positive climate impact in supply chains associated with deforestation and land degradation in tropical forest countries.
An IMPACT awards judge praised SAIL Ventures for "attention to detail with the various frameworks and related impact metrics," calling them "quite impressive".
In 2021, SAIL Ventures also refined and formalised &Green's Forest & Biodiversity Framework. The Framework embeds the IFC Performance Standard 6 – which ensures biodiversity is not negatively impacted by investments – within &Green's Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS).
By applying the framework, every potential transaction entering &Green's pipeline will undergo standardised risk screening for both past and future biodiversity risks.
Based on the risks identified, the framework then defines a practical process for delivering biodiversity protection and compensation impacts.
"We are proud to have won this award and happy to see that our efforts are being recognised. Going forward, SAIL will remain focused on getting to sufficient scale to achieve deforestation-free sectors and jurisdictions, while delivering a high-quality portfolio," commented Johnny Brom, SAIL Ventures' founder & CIO.
SAIL Ventures was founded in 2017 and has since grown to assets under management of $180 million.
In last year's IMPACT awards, SAIL Ventures won Private debt provider of the year for the second year in row.