Leveraging markets for better results
Over the last ten years, the Conservation and Markets Initiative has focused on reducing overfishing and the degradation of ecosystems that result from the production of globally traded seafood and agriculture commodities. We’ve seen producers and innovative companies prove it is possible and profitable to meet rising demand while preserving habitats, biodiversity and other ecosystem impacts.
A recent externally led evaluation confirmed the value and impact of the work — demonstrating that markets can serve as powerful agents for conservation. Now, it’s about getting to scale.
Today, the Moore Foundation announced a ten-year, $400 million extension of the initiative, designed for a greater impact at scale. Additionally, the foundation will allocate $22 million over the next three years to pilot new programming focused on transition minerals.
“The initiative’s market-based approach has made an important difference in reducing threats to critical ecosystems as global demand increases,” said Sabine Miltner, program director for the Conservation and Markets Initiative. “Building on what we’ve learned over the past decade, we will continue our grantmaking through 2035 to delink top food commodities from environmental impacts, including a pilot grant-making program focused on the four most in-demand transition minerals.”
Adjusting our approach based on key learnings
An internal analysis by the foundation reinforced that the food sector is the leading driver of current and, if left unchecked, future ecosystem destruction. It ranks first in its impacts on nature through deforestation, habitat conversion, water use and biodiversity loss, and second in global greenhouse gas emissions.
Accordingly, the initiative’s next decade will address high-impact food commodities.
“Through this continued approach, we believe we can better scale and support the long-term durability of market transformations,” said Miltner. “We will deepen our focus on shifting from supply to value chains and increase our emphasis on transition capital to enable better value and cost sharing across our food systems. We will also expand support for innovative business models and technologies that accelerate change.”
Three-year pilot on transition minerals
The analysis also identified the rapidly growing impact of transition minerals on nature as the demand for diverse energy resources accelerates. The demand for some minerals, such as cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel, is projected to exceed supply, requiring the development of new mines over the coming decade.
This creates a unique opportunity to work with public and private entities to ensure new mining is done responsibly: that ecosystem impacts are fully considered, trade-offs transparent, and development occurs without compromising the energy transition.
Our critical targets for success
In this next phase, the Conservation and Markets Initiative aims to decouple key economic sectors, food commodity production and transition mineral extraction with associated financing, from ecosystem degradation.
These are the critical targets for success:
- By 2035, two-thirds of the top food commodity volumes produced, sourced and financed by value chain corporates have been delinked from environmental impacts.
- By 2035, sustainable commodity financing in priority sectors (food and minerals) is viable without concessional capital while institutions financing these sectors have delinked two-thirds of their lending and investment from target environmental impacts.
- By 2028, public and private actors are on a pathway to deploying natural capital considerations for transition minerals-related decisions, validating core elements of the theory of change.
About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. Follow @MooreFound or visit www.moore.org.
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