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SF.live 2025 brands blended finance and repeatability as keys to nature investment

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  Published in Business and Finance on Tuesday, November 4th 2025 at 11:48 GMT by Finextra
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SFLive 2025: Blended Finance and Repeatability Drive Nature‑Centric Investment

The financial world’s next frontier, as highlighted at the recent SFLive 2025 event, is a more systematic, repeatable approach to investing in nature. The conference, organised by the SFLive community and streamed live to a global audience, underscored the pivotal role that blended finance plays in unlocking capital for environmental projects. By combining public, private, and philanthropic funds, blended finance creates a win‑win where risk is mitigated and returns are enhanced, thereby encouraging further investment in nature‑based solutions.

The Core Message: Blended Finance as a Catalyst

The headline theme, “Blended Finance and Repeatability,” captured the collective sentiment of attendees. Blended finance refers to the strategic use of capital from different sources—such as sovereign funds, development banks, private equity, and charitable foundations—to create financial instruments that can support large‑scale nature projects. It was argued that this model can help scale up biodiversity and ecosystem restoration projects, which typically suffer from under‑investment and high upfront costs.

During the opening keynote, Dr. Elena Morales, Head of Sustainability Finance at the World Bank, explained how blended finance reduces the cost of capital for nature projects by shifting risk to the most risk‑tolerant investors. “When a development bank or a sovereign wealth fund steps in with a low‑cost debt instrument, it unlocks private capital that might otherwise stay idle,” Morales said. She cited a case study from Southeast Asia where a blended finance structure delivered $120 million to a reforestation project that created 1,500 hectares of protected forest.

Repeatability: Turning One‑Off Projects into Replicable Models

Repeatability was presented as the next evolutionary step: building a portfolio of nature projects that can be duplicated across regions. The idea is to create modular, replicable investment frameworks that can be standardized and scaled. The panel discussed a “Nature Investment Playbook,” a set of guidelines and financial templates that investors can adapt to local conditions.

Ms. Priya Desai, a venture partner at Impact Capital Partners, noted that “a repeatable model means we can move from anecdotal success stories to a robust ecosystem of returns.” She shared how her firm has used a blended finance structure to fund a series of mangrove restoration projects along the coasts of West Africa, achieving both ecological and social outcomes while generating a 7 % internal rate of return (IRR) over a 10‑year horizon.

ESG, ESG‑Metrics, and Nature‑Credit Ratings

The event also tackled how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics can be refined to accurately capture nature benefits. In a session titled “Nature‑Credit Ratings,” a representative from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) presented a new rating framework that incorporates biodiversity metrics alongside traditional ESG factors. The framework allows investors to benchmark the ecological impact of nature projects, giving them a clearer understanding of risk and return.

The IFC’s new rating also integrates climate‑relevant outcomes such as carbon sequestration and watershed protection. According to the presentation, these metrics provide an additional layer of assurance that nature investments are not just “green” but also deliver measurable climate benefits.

Key Takeaways for the Financial Community

1. Blended finance reduces risk and attracts private capital.
   By using low‑cost public debt or concessional loans as a lever, blended finance can lower the overall risk profile, making projects more attractive to traditional investors.

2. Repeatability drives scale.
   Standardised financial structures and modular project designs allow investors to deploy capital more efficiently across different geographies.

3. ESG integration is essential.
   Investors must adopt robust, nature‑specific ESG metrics to quantify ecological returns and differentiate high‑quality projects.

4. Regulatory alignment is needed.
   The conference highlighted that supportive regulatory frameworks, such as green bond standards and tax incentives, are critical to mainstream nature investment.

5. Collaboration across sectors is the norm.
   The event demonstrated that successful nature finance requires partnerships among governments, NGOs, the private sector, and local communities.

Resources and Further Reading

• SFLive 2025 Website – https://www.sflive.co.za
• World Bank Sustainability Finance – https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/sustainability
• IFC Nature Credit Rating Framework – https://www.ifc.org/nature-credit-ratings
• Impact Capital Partners – https://www.impactcapitalpartners.com

The conference concluded with a networking session where investors, financiers, and project developers discussed potential collaborations. The consensus was clear: blended finance, when paired with a repeatable investment model, can become the engine that drives a new wave of nature‑centric capital flow. This alignment of risk, return, and ecological impact is poised to transform how we finance the planet’s future.