The Copenhagen-based Hempel Foundation has launched an impact investment initiative for biodiversity. The Foundation made its first investment in two funds backing sustainable plantation – including one in Southeast Asia.
“This investment aims to contribute to the preservation and restoration of tropical forest,” Hempel said in a statement Monday.
The announcement did not specify the amount that the initiative will administer, though it stated, that the investments will be made in funds involved in tropical forest and biodiversity protection.
“These investments do not only address the biodiversity crisis, but also helps reducing the impact of the climate crisis, by lowering CO2 emissions, absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere, and helping vulnerable communities to adapt to the climate change,” Hempel further stated.
The Southeast Asian investment will go to New Forests’ Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 (TAFF2). The fund aims to capitalize on long-term sustainable forestry in the region.
Launching the TAFF2 fund, New Forest said, it wanted to establish a diversified portfolio of assets in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Hempel’s executive director, Anders Holm, specified that the foundation screened more than 40 funds before choosing which one to back.
