New approaches to financing ambitious freshwater restoration projects

A key message from the MERLIN project is the need for freshwater restoration managers to embrace new forms of funding in order to mainstream their work across Europe.

As we’ve explored in previous podcasts, environmental projects have long relied on grant funding from state sources. However, in order to address the magnitude of the ongoing climate emergency and ecological crises, it is clear that new forms of funding are need to underpin ambitious restoration schemes across the continent.

In this context, MERLIN have recently released the final publications in their ‘Off-the-Shelf Instruments’ series. These instruments – OTSIs for short – are accessible financial guides which introduce approaches to raising public and private finance for restoration projects.

The twelve OTSIs cover both traditional sources of environmental finance – such as grant funding – alongside new and contemporary sources such as biodiversity offsetting, carbon sequestration and reward-based crowdfunding.

The twelve OTSIs are: donation-based crowdfunding; corporate donations; tourism and agriculture activities; reward-based crowdfunding; corporate branding; carbon sequestration credits; mutual guarantees; grants; biodiversity offsetting; public-private partnerships; debt instruments; and climate bonds.

This toolkit of approaches is designed to offer restoration managers flexibility, transparency and speed in sourcing and allocating finance to their projects. The MERLIN authors state that the OTSIs, “not only facilitate public funding but also acknowledge the indispensable role of private finance in propelling impactful initiatives forward.”

Each OTSI is designed to give an engaging overview of funding, covering the aims of different financial instruments, the potential beneficiaries, pros and cons, timescales for implementation and set-up and operational costs. The OTSIs are illustrated with real-world case studies and best practice examples throughout, alongside a wealth of contacts and further resources.

Key Performance Indicators (or KPIs) are crucial for integrating new financial approaches into restoration projects. As such, each OTSI concludes with a series of suggested KPIs to help justify new approaches in project design, both to financial and environmental organisations.

Designed through a collaboration between MERLIN and investment innovation organisation CONNECTOLOGY, the OTSIs are supported by free training videos in the MERLIN Academy.

In short, the portfolio of OTSIs offer an invaluable resource showcasing cutting-edge financial tools for environmental managers seeking to upscale their work.

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This article is supported by the MERLIN project.