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Mercuria creates a nature-based investment platform
20.03.2023

Mercuria and its Founders to invest US$500 million to launch its nature vehicle, Silvania.
Silvania will invest exclusively in natural climate solutions globally to support the delivery of the Paris Agreement goals and the UN 30x30 Initiative.
Silvania is consistent with Mercuria’s purpose to connect markets, advance the energy transition, and its ambition to help the world achieve Net Zero.

GENEVA – 20- March – Mercuria is proud to announce the launch of Silvania. This ambitious and unique vehicle will exclusively invest in natural climate solutions globally to support the delivery of the Paris Agreement goals and the UN 30x30 initiative, which aims to protect 30 percent of Earth's land and ocean area by 2030. It will have a capital commitment of $500M from a combination of Mercuria Energy Trading and its founding partners.

Mercuria established itself as a leader in the energy transition by pledging more than 50 percent of investments toward renewables and transitional energy by 2025. The company has committed to compensate for its scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2022. Since 2019, Mercuria has adopted the UN’s Agenda 2030 objectives as an intrinsic facet of the company’s operation through the adoption of all 17 sustainable development goals.

The investments will provide tangible environmental, biodiversity, and social benefits by investing capital across the value chain, providing technical and financial support in diverse projects and platforms across multiple geographies. The investments are expected to generate high-quality carbon credits and co-benefits from reducing or sequestering emissions or increasing biodiversity from Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU).

“Launching Silvania is consistent with Mercuria’s purpose to connect markets and advance the energy transition and its ambition to help the world achieve Net Zero,” said Marco Dunand, Mercuria’s chief executive officer. “Silvania will bring local environmental and social benefits through its projects whilst also delivering positive global climate change impacts and biodiversity benefits overall.”

In the years since the Paris Agreement, numerous governments and public and private companies have pledged to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Achieving net zero will require the use of carbon credits as the world reduces emissions and scales low and zero carbon energy solutions. It is anticipated that any credits generated from the vehicle’s investments will be targeted for use in compliance, voluntary carbon markets, or Mercuria’s own offsetting demand.

Nature-based solutions are a crucial element of the efforts to meet the Paris Agreement's goals on climate change and underpin many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. However, according to a 2021 UN and World Economic Forum report, annual investment in nature-based solutions falls far short of the more than US$500 billion required annually by 2050¹.

The origination and execution of the vehicle’s investments will draw on the extensive capabilities of Mercuria’s Environmental Products team, who have deep expertise in low-carbon investments and the global carbon markets and is already active in over 15 countries on 6 continents. Investments will be made globally across various nature-based solution categories, such as direct land purchases to manage existing forests, reforestation, and restoration projects, or equity investments in project development and operating companies, targeting avoided emissions, removals, and biodiversity benefits. It will also leverage the unique technology and remote sensing capabilities of Mercuria to support the identification, monitoring, reporting, and verification of projects. The Mercuria digital innovation team has been developing a range of tools using remote sensing technology and machine learning with a specific focus on nature.

"This initiative will act as a catalyst to drive large-scale investment in nature by funding a variety of project types. Achieving the large-scale restoration and conservation outcomes we aim to target requires capital and expertise, which we are perfectly positioned to provide,” said Marco Dunand.

Amongst the activities targeted initially, the vehicle will invest in:

Innovative carbon sequestration projects with small private landowners and restoration of degraded peatlands in North America,
Sustainable forest management, restoration of forests and degraded mangrove ecosystems in Latin America,
Reduction of methane emissions from agriculture, avoided deforestation and peatland conservation across Africa and Asia,
Forest restoration and conservation programs in Australia and New Zealand, and
Support of large-scale programs to stop deforestation through jurisdictional REDD programs globally.

¹ United Nations Environment Program May 2021: State of Finance for Nature

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