Financial Rewards for Improved Biodiversity Outcomes (FRIBO)

据估计，环境缓解成本每年约为1万亿美元，其中约1200亿美元主要由政府和慈善基金会提供。私人投资相对较少，提供了大量尚未开发的资金来源，需要动员起来帮助弥补巨大的缺口。私营部门的投资面临许多障碍，包括缺乏适当和可销售的金融工具，无法对环境项目的成果提供令人满意的保证。在生物多样性方面，由于生物多样性和生物多样性资产缺乏金融价值，这一问题更加严重。目前支持环境的金融工具主要包括绿色债券。虽然绿色债券市场正在扩大，但这些资产与环境绩效无关，而是承诺为植树和可再生能源等更“直接”的可持续项目提供资金。因此，它们与“绿色洗涤”联系在一起。FRIBO将与利益攸关方合作伙伴（来自金融、土地使用、野生动物、生态系统服务民间社会和政策部门）一起确定开发更适合目的的绩效相关金融工具的机会和障碍，这些工具将对私人投资者具有吸引力，同时激励提供真实的基于自然的解决方案，重点是改善和可衡量的生物多样性成果。候选工具的例子是环境影响债券（EIB）;它们将财务回报与干预措施的成功联系起来，通过使用项目的财务价值和可销售的收益（如碳抵消）或减少成本的成果（如减少洪水损失）偿还初始贷款和利息，以支付全部项目成本。它们被称为“按业绩计薪”工具。可持续发展挂钩债券（SLB）的运作方式类似，但取决于实现更广泛的预先定义的可持续发展目标，如减少温室气体排放，以避免罚款。FRIBO将分析金融-生物多样性关系中的联系和驱动因素，以评估取得进展的机会和障碍。将通过面对面、虚拟和调查问卷等方式进行广泛的利益攸关方互动，以确定所需研究的关键领域，并对开发和激励工具的最佳战略进行评论。需要考虑的挑战是：如何在市场背景下对生物多样性和生物多样性成果以及国家生物多样性战略进行衡量和财务估值（FRIBO将利用与该领域现有NERC项目的联系），确定改善的生物多样性成果;制定适当的生物多样性指标;环境影响评估的作用和功能，生物多样性在国家生物多样性战略中的作用和功能;对更广泛的社会效益进行评估和量化;确定如何为NBS实现的更广泛的生物多样性效益获得额外付款; EIB和NBS的不成熟性要求对其在金融部门的市场化进行研究。最后，可能会产生意想不到的后果，如环境损害的剥离/离岸外包，一些“抵消”的不对等，如新植树的碳和生物多样性价值，以抵消老森林的砍伐;。FRIBO由来自女王大学贝尔法斯特和纽卡斯尔大学的核心研究人员组成，与一系列国家和国际合作伙伴一起，将制定一项战略研究议程，该议程将确定应对这些挑战所需的研究，并加快对生物多样性相关NBSs的投资。此外，FRIBO将制定一个实施路线图，概述利益相关者实施以生物多样性为重点的“绩效奖励”投资计划所需开展的关键活动和时间表。

It is estimated that environmental mitigation costs are in the region of $1 trillion per year of which ~$120 billion is provided largely by government and charitable foundations. Private investment is relatively small, providing a large untapped funding source that needs to be mobilised to help cover the massive shortfall. There are many impediments to private sector investment, including lack of appropriate and marketable financial instruments that can provide a satisfactory level of assurance regarding the outcome of environmental projects. The problem is exacerbated, in terms of biodiversity, due to the lack of financial value attributed to biodiversity and biodiversity assets. Current financial instruments that support the environment comprise mainly of green bonds. While the green bond market is expanding, these assets are not environmental performance related instead representing a commitment to simply fund more "straight forward" sustainable projects such as tree planting and renewable energy. As a result they have been linked to "green washing". FRIBO will identify with stakeholder partners (from the finance, land-use, wildlife, ecosystem service civil society and policy sectors) the opportunities and impediments to developing more fit-for-purpose performance related financial instruments that would be attractive to private investors while incentivising the delivery of real nature-based solutions (NBSs), with a focus on improved and measurable biodiversity outcomes. Examples of candidate instruments are Environmental Impact Bonds (EIBs); they link financial return to the success of the intervention by repaying the initial loan and interest using the financially valuable and marketable benefits of the project, such as carbon offsets, or cost reducing outcomes such as reduced flood damage, to pay off the full project costs. They are termed as "pay for performance" instruments. Sustainability Linked Bonds (SLBs) work in a similar way, but depend on meeting broader pre-defined sustainability goals such as reduction in GHG emissions to avoid penalty payments. FRIBO will analyse the linkages and drivers within the Finance-Biodiversity Nexus to assess opportunities and impediments to progress. Extensive stakeholder interaction, face to face, virtual and via surveys and questionnaires, will be conducted to identify key areas of research needed and critique optimum strategies for developing and incentivising the instruments. Challenges that will need to be taken into account are: how to measure and financially value biodiversity and biodiversity outcomes and NBSs in a market context (FRIBO will exploit links with existing NERC projects in this area), defining an improved biodiversity outcome; developing suitable biodiversity metrics; the role and function of Environmental Impact Assessments, the role and function of biodiversity in NBSs; the evaluation and quantification of wider societal benefits; identifying how to obtain additional payments for the wider biodiversity benefits that are realised in NBSs; the immaturity of EIBs and NBSs requires that their marketability within the financial sector requires study. Finally, there may be unintended consequences such as divesting/offshoring of environmental damage, non-equivalence of some "offsets" such as the carbon and biodiversity value of new tree plantations to offset deforestation of old growth forests;. Comprising a core group of researchers from Queen's University Belfast and Newcastle University, with a range of national and international partners, FRIBO will produce a Strategic Research Agenda that will identify the research required to address these challenges and accelerate investment in biodiversity related NBSs. In addition, FRIBO will produce an Implementation Roadmap that will outline key activities and timelines that need to be undertaken in order for stakeholders to implement Biodiversity focused "Rewards for performance" investment schemes.