This new financing mechanism aims to accelerate investment in land and drought resilience

Riyadh, 4 December 2024 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) have today announced the Landscape Restoration Impact Fund (LRIF), a new initiative designed to accelerate investment in landscape restoration.

This Fund aims to overcome traditional financial barriers by combining financial returns, social impact, and environmental benefits, bringing much-needed private sector capital into land restoration projects, particularly across regions at the frontlines of climate change and underserved by today’s financial architecture.

By targeting degraded regions, high conservation areas, and fragile ecosystems, LRIF aligns with UNCCD’s Land Degradation Neutrality Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Through sustainable practices—like agroforestry, soil and water conservation, and sustainable forestry— to restore ecosystems while empowering local communities, the Impact Fund seeks to generate jobs, enhance local capacity, and support livelihoods, emphasizing development driven by those on the ground.

For investors, LRIF presents a stable and de-risked opportunity, backed by first-loss guarantees and concessional loans. This financial security, combined with new revenue models from ecosystem services like carbon and biodiversity credits, makes LRIF a unique venture, blending profitability with measurable environmental and social gains.

"The Landscape Restoration Impact Fund represents a major opportunity to catalyze private and public capital towards urgent land restoration needs, especially targeting those local communities and governments who need most support to overcome traditional financial barriers, and yet with most to gain from ecological and economic resilience” said Marcos Neto, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP's Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.

Many developing countries face challenges in accessing traditional finance due to mismatched project sizes and perceived high risks. LRIF addresses this by consolidating smaller projects into larger portfolios that are more attractive to investors. The Fund's focus on high-risk and early-stage markets, like Least Developed Countries (LDCs), aims to show that restoration can be financially viable.

This approach shifts the focus from viewing nature as a mere resource to treating it as a vital asset that preserves natural capital while fostering sustainable economic growth.

"The UN Capital Development Fund brings its unique position as a hybrid development and finance organization to this partnership with UNDP. With our unique capability to deploy guarantees and other concessional financial products that can accommodate higher risks than most credit-rated and regulated financial intermediaries, we will support UNDP to de-risk investments,” said Mr. Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, Executive Secretary of the UN Capital Development Fund.

“This support will help to unlock public and private capital in early-stage and frontier markets, we can make landscape restoration a viable and attractive investment sector, while spurring much-needed financial flows to countries on the frontlines of land degradation and drought."

The Fund’s structure includes three key components. UNDP’s Grants Funding Window provides initial project support, breaking down early-stage barriers. UNCDF’s Blended Finance Window leverages private capital for projects with revenue potential, using tools like concessional loans and guarantees to manage risk. Additionally, a rigorous Impact Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) System ensures transparency and strengthens investor confidence.

LRIF’s goals are to attract capital for impactful restoration projects through the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), build a pipeline of investment-ready projects with clear social, environmental, and financial outcomes, and empower local stakeholders by providing them with the tools they need to foster sustainable restoration.

UNDP and UNCDF's combined expertise aim to transform the landscape investment sector, tackling the urgent challenge of land degradation with a strategy that pairs sustainability with financial returns. This collaboration seeks to demonstrate that profitable, resilient development is not only possible but essential for the future of our planet.

ABOUT UNDP

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.

Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP.

ABOUT UNCDF

UNCDF mobilizes and catalyzes an increase in capital flows for SDG impactful investments to Member States, especially Least Developed Countries, contributing to sustainable economic growth and equitable prosperity.

In partnership with UN entities and development partners, UNCDF delivers scalable, blended finance solutions to drive systemic change, pave the way for commercial finance, and contribute to the SDGs. We support market development by enabling entities to access finance in high-risk environments by deploying financial instruments, mechanisms and advisory.

Learn more at uncdf.org or follow at @UNCDF