![Financing for Natural Infrastructure Projects report cover showing buildings near a river in Calgary, Canada.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_box_portrait_mobile/public/2024-05/financing-natural-infrastructure-projects.jpg?h=81630ad8&itok=G--pIP8B)
Financing for Natural Infrastructure Projects
Viable pathways to scale up natural infrastructure investments on the Canadian Prairies
Insights on how private capital can finance natural infrastructure to meet our water needs, including an assessment of applicability of the finance instruments to the Canadian Prairies region.
-
Private capital can help finance natural infrastructure to meet our water needs. Mobilizing capital for natural infrastructure projects is critical for their wider implementation.
-
Diverse partnerships between government, private, and Indigenous stakeholders and rightsholders are critical in making successful investments in natural infrastructure.
-
Private investors are considering support of the natural infrastructure sector through mechanisms such as carbon and biodiversity credits, outcomes-based financing, and natural asset companies.
Natural infrastructure is a cost-effective solution to meeting many of our infrastructure needs, particularly those related to water, such as the provision of clean drinking water, flood protection, stormwater management, and climate change adaptation. Natural infrastructure encompasses preserved, restored, and engineered ecosystems, and it harnesses the power of nature to support human well-being through ecosystem services.
Mobilizing capital for natural infrastructure projects is critical for their wider implementation. Historically, public funding from government agencies—such as funds dedicated to support restoration or agricultural best management practices—has been the largest source of capital for natural infrastructure. Nevertheless, commercial financing and private investments are emerging as promising sources of capital for natural infrastructure projects.
This report showcases how private capital can help finance natural infrastructure to meet our water needs, the factors that go into financing decisions, and the benefits from the investments.
![Private capital can help finance natural infrastructure to meet our water needs. Mobilizing capital for natural infrastructure projects is critical for their wider implementation.](/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_mobile/public/2024-05/financing-ni-social-1c.jpg?itok=3W8OWLSD)
Funded by
You might also be interested in
A Scan of Natural Infrastructure Approaches
A scan of communities in Canada that are successfully implementing natural infrastructure to help deliver municipal services.
How Can We Work With Nature to Tackle Drought and Desertification?
Drought is one of the most devastating and pervasive challenges exacerbated by climate change. However, we can work to reduce its effects through nature-based solutions for land restoration and climate-smart agriculture.
Estimate of Natural Infrastructure Public Grant Funding in Canada and in the Canadian Prairies
This analysis estimated the amount of public grant funding available across Canada and in the Canadian Prairie provinces for investing in urgently needed natural infrastructure.
Report Calls on Fossil Fuel Producers to Map “Transition Away” in NDCs
With governments due to submit the next generation of NDCs in 2025 a new report identifies five elements countries should include to reflect the outcome of the global stocktake.