🔎 What’s going on?
After enjoying a profitable couple of months, environmentally friendly cleaning brand, Ecover has created a £500k nature-based solutions fund.
💩🌱 Awesome, tell me more!
As a cleaning company, whilst other businesses have struggled - Ecover has thrived during the Coronavirus pandemic. Mainly because cleaning products became essentials for every household and business, almost overnight. With the extra profits they have generated during this time and keeping in line with the company’s values and commitment to sustainability, they have created a new nature-based fund “Fertilise the Future” worth £500,000. 🙌
The fund will invest in proof-of-concept projects in any of these four nature-based solutions:
- The conservation and restoration of forest and other terrestrial ecosystems
- The conservation and restoration of freshwater resources as well as marine and ocean ecosystems
- Sustainable agriculture and food systems
- Ensuring nature’s systemic role in sustainable development in ways that end the loss of biodiversity and optimise nature’s contribution for resilient livelihoods, green infrastructure, sustainable settlements and just rural transitions.
❓ Why should I care?
Ecover, like Stripe, is setting a new precedent for how brands can invest in solutions that reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change. Moving away from a donation to charities model to an investment model is a new direction corporate sustainability teams are taking. Whilst governments are still deciding their post-COVID recovery packages, there is an enormous need for investment in solutions tackling climate change.
🚦 Where do we need to be?
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the annual funding requirement into Nature-Based Solutions is USD 300 - 400 billion, however, currently only USD 50 billion is flowing to these solutions. This means there is a massive funding gap present. Investment from the private sector, such as Ecover is definitely very welcome and encouraged. The IPCC also estimates that around USD 2.4trillion investment is needed just for the energy sector between 2016 and 2035
👤 What can I do about it?
If you are an innovator, organisation, ecopreneur, or activist with a big idea that deserves a grant, then apply here today.
If you are a business owner, then consider taking a similar approach to Ecover. However, reducing your own business carbon footprint should always be the priority for any business. If you are already obsessively measuring and reducing your carbon footprint (as Ecover are), then such an endeavour is worthwhile.