Archives: Events

3rd Symposium on Urbanization and Stream Ecology

The Symposium on Urbanization and Stream Ecology is a meeting of stream ecologists held approximately every five years aiming to further the scientific study of stream ecosystems in urban landscapes. In 2014, the third symposium will be held in Portland in the days preceding the joint meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) and the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO). The theme of SUSE3 will be mechanisms: both in the broad sense of landscape-scale drivers of ecological change and in the detailed sense of small-scale drivers of in-stream biotic response. At the broad scale, the symposium aims to further our understanding of variation in dominant mechanisms in different regions of the globe.

Preregistration and abstract submission are now available by clicking HERE. As of 03/01/2014 some computers have been experiencing trouble accessing the portal. If you experience trouble, please contact us at the email address below.

Feel free to contact the organizing committee at [email protected] or contact anyone on the organizing committee directly using the contact info found on the organizing committee page.

Go to the event website for more information.

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Accelerating Sustainability: Energy and Water in Your Operations and Supply Chains

You slashed your water consumption. You shrank your energy bill. You improved efficiencies in your supply chain. Now what? It’s time to put sustainability to work for your business. Join us on May 6 to learn innovative sustainability strategies that can enhance your brand, cut cost, and grow revenue faster and at greater scale.

Register for the event here.

At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Accelerating Sustainability Forum, in partnership with the US Business Council for Sustainable Development, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and SustainAbility, we will bring together some of the greatest minds and proven practitioners from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to explore two approaches — enhanced, scaled collaboration and sustainability-driven innovation. These concepts are redefining what businesses can achieve around energy and water use that delivers shared value for your business, society, and the environment. Through visionary speakers, action-oriented sessions, and ample networking opportunities, you will work with other sustainability leaders to refine the partnerships, tools, and techniques you need to create the energy and water solutions to accelerate transformative change.

View the latest agenda here.

Featured keynote speakers include Mary Grace Anderson (Shell Upstream Americas), Hugh Welsh (DSM North America), David Melancon (Benjamin Moore & Co.), Brodi Fontenot (U.S. Department of Transportation), Colonel Mark “Puck” Mykleby (United States Marine Corps – Retired), and Rose McKinney-James (Energy Works Consulting LLC)

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National Mitigation and Ecosystem Banking Conference

Founded in 1997 with a diverse steering committee of regulators, bankers and environmentalist, this is the first – and only – National hands-on conference for mitigation, conservation and ecosystem banking that focuses on banking to protect wetlands, endangered species and other natural resources.

The Conference presents current and timely content and dialogue on important issues through interactive sessions, panels, moderated forums and training.

Dialogue between bankers, regulators, customers/users, environmentalists and supporting government agencies is a primary focus of this annual conference.

The Conference has grown to 400 + attendees that are serious about their participation in the Conference.

Who Should Attend? Those who are involved in – or have an interest in – mitigation, conservation and ecosystem banking and in expanding your knowledge and opportunities.

  • Federal, State, Local officials, planners and regulators
  • Mitigation and conservation bankers
  • Engineers, scientists, attorneys
  • Land trusts and conservancies
  • Users, customers of banks
  • Investors
  • Realtors, Developers, Appraisers
  • Landowners
  • Environmental Organizations
  • Consultants and suppliers to the restoration industry
  • Transportation – highways, railroads, ports, others
  • Utilities & More!

Learn more and register here.

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Webinar: Natural Capital Markets for Watershed Services

In this webinar, Natural Capital Markets (NCM) together with Ecosystem Marketplace (EM) will focus on the use of market (based) instruments to conserve watershed services. In particular, the role of different actors such as the private sector and local communities will be discussed. Panelists will also explore leading and emerging models for investments in natural capital. The webinar will be based on findings from a NCM study on PES (Payments for Ecosystem Services) and biodiversity offsets, and findings from latest recent EM publication “Payments for Watershed Services: An Executive Summary for Business.”

The webinar will start at 16:00 CET/10:00 EDT and will run for about one hour. Participation is free of charge (language: English).

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Navigating the American Carbon World 2014

The Climate Action Reserve is pleased to present Navigating the American World (NACW) 2014 with its program partner, the Nicholas Institute at Duke University. NACW is the longest running and most anticipated conference for discussing climate policy and carbon markets. It has a well-established history of providing the most comprehensive and recent information on the year’s most pressing topics. And because it is the largest carbon event, it is known as the best event for networking with colleagues from the business, government, nonprofit and academic sectors. NACW 2014 will take a close look at the future growth and expansion of California’s historic cap-and-trade program, other established and emerging carbon markets around the world, the status of potential linkages between markets, national climate change policy and other innovative environmental initiatives.

For more information, please visit: www.nacw2014.org.

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IIED conference on Innovations for equity in smallholder PES: bridging research and practice

What are the best ways to make schemes that compensate protectors of natural resources fairer and more inclusive? IIED’s conference on Innovations for equity in smallholder PES: bridging research and practice aims to explore the latest thinking on the issue from researchers, policy makers, funders and practitioners, and to share lessons learned.

Based at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh on 21 March 2014, the conference on payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes will include:

  • Conference sessions exploring strategies to promote the inclusion of smallholders and communities in PES schemes
  • Case studies to improve the understanding of participants’ preferences for different PES payment formats
  • Panel discussions among practitioners
  • A post-conference networking event

Go to the event website for more information.

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Coastal Carbon Economics Webinar with MESP and CSF

The Conservation Strategy Fund and Duke University have launched a collaborative partnership to create a Conservation Economics Initiative. The Initiative will make economics training more readily available to conservation professionals around the world starting with its first MESP sponsored webinar on February 10th.

Terrestrial ecosystems such as forests and coastal and marine ecosystems (MCEs) such as mangroves, salt marshes and sea grasses are a treasure trove, providing a range of ecosystem services that are economically and socially valuable to populations far and wide. Unfortunately many of these ecosystem services are unpriced and therefore underprovided when competing with onsite goods and services that do receive compensation such as agriculture, aquaculture and other developed uses. One ecosystem service provided by these systems is biological carbon sequestration, the process of capturing and retaining carbon in soils and vegetation, which helps mitigate the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that lead to climate risk. MCEs are an incredibly rich pool of carbon, storing as much as three times per hectare more than forest ecosystems, which themselves are quite carbon rich. Global efforts to fight climate change have created financial mechanisms to reward parties for sequestering carbon.

This webinar will discuss how these payment programs might apply to forests and MCEs, what kind of economic value this might add to keeping these systems intact and whether this may be sufficient to forestall their loss.

Email [email protected] with any questions.

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20th ISTF Annual Conference

The dynamic landscape of tropical land use, deforestation, global governance, and economic development is pushing the need for evolution of the conservation toolbox. Complex financial mechanisms such as carbon markets, product certifications, mitigation banking, and supply chain management have valuable roles in tropical forest conservation, but remain difficult to access for many forest rights holders and advocates. At the same time, large scale commodity investment continues to threaten tropical forests and livelihoods.

 
The Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) is proud to announce the 20th Annual ISTF Conference at Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, to be held on January 30- February 1, 2014. This year’s conference will discuss forest conservation in the context of the capital approach (top down) and the local approach (bottom up) of attracting financial resources for conservation and generating sustainable revenues from forest resources.
 
Conference’s topics will include:
 
  • Capital approaches to conservation: how can large-scale investment from donors and forest investors be structured to maximize conservation value?
  • What is the potential of the international forest carbon market versus local markets such as watershed services, mitigation banks and debt-for-nature swaps?
  • Local approaches to conservation: how can community conservation projects scale up to the landscape level, attract capital, and become financially sustainable?
  • How can commodity markets (soy, beef, oil palm) be regulated or incentivized to reduce their impact on tropical forests?
 

Learn more about the event here.  

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Green Infrastructrue and Water Management in Growing Metropolitan Areas

Urbanization, the change of forest and agricultural lands to concentrated development, is proceeding at an unprecedented pace. The majority of the world’s population now lives in urban areas. Impervious surface, such as roadways and rooftops are now estimated to cover approximately 10% of the earth’s land mass, is concentrated in these urban areas and dramatically influences stormwater flows, the delivery of pollutants to receiving water bodies, and ultimately the condition of world’s rivers, lakes and estuaries. Present trends in urbanization are expected to continue, amplifying the stormwater problem.

Green infrastructure, at site specific and regional scales, is being promoted as an effective and efficient means of regulating the stormwater flows and pollutant loading, while providing multiple environmental and health and well-being benefits that support sustainability. Despite these added benefits, municipal leaders face significant challenges when attempting to implement green infrastructure strategies in new and existing development.

The purpose of this conference is to engage researchers, engineers, planners, government policy makers, and other stakeholders in developing options and solutions that result in wider implementation of green infrastructure practices to manage stormwater in our growing metropolitan regions.

Conference Themes:

  1. Defining the range of benefits of green-infrastructure practices;
  2. Identifying barriers to implementing these practices;
  3. Evaluating options and opportunities for funding, financing and valuing green infrastructure; and
  4. Developing practical actions that government, communities and others can take to promote greater implementation of green infrastructure to address urban stormwater.

Go the the event website for more information.

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COP 19 Implications For Latin America (Spanish)

Join Valorando Naturaleza’s 4th webinar of the year on December 12th, where carbon experts will gather to discuss the most relevant and important results for Latin America from the UN Climate Change Framework Convention in Warsaw that took place at the end of November.

To learn more and save your space, please click here.

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Valorando Naturaleza Webinar on Forest Carbon Report Results (Spanish)

Ecosystem Marketplace’s Spanish language sister site, Valorando Naturaleza, is hosting its 3rd webinar. It will present results from Ecosystem Marketplace’s State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2013 report focusing on Latin America. The webinar will include commentary from actors active in the forst carbon sector. The webinar will be in Spanish.

Click here for registration and more information.

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Performance of Designated Operational Entities in Household Energy Projects (Webinar)

Join Nexus-Carbon for Development for a webinar introducing a new report entitled “Performance of Designated Operational Entities in Household Energy Projects – Benchmarking Survey”. This report assesses the performance of Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) during validation and verification of small-scale carbon projects.

 
The study, developed by Nexus-Carbon for Development, is the third part of a research series that aims to enhance the fairness, transparency and accessibility to climate finance for small-scale household energy projects.
 
The study was sponsored by French Global Environmental Facility (FFEM) and developed with two technical partners: The Gold Standard Foundation and CDC Climat.
 
Two webinar options are provided to ensure that all time zones are covered.
 
To join these insightful sessions, please RSVP via email to [email protected] or click on the links below to register online.
 
Webinar 1:
Date: Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Time: 6pm (local time Cambodia, UTC/GMT +7)
Where: Online (via click meeting)
Click here to register online.
 
Webinar 2:  
Date: Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Time: 11am (local time Cambodia, UTC/GMT +7)
Where: Online (via click meeting)
Click here to register online.
 
Nexus-Carbon for Development  looks forward to meeting you online!

Read more about the event here.  

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World Forum on Natural Capital

A revolution is taking place in how businesses and governments account for natural capital.

The inaugural World Forum on Natural Capital will be the first major global conference devoted exclusively to turning the debate on natural capital accounting into action. It will build on the enormous private sector interest shown at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio in June 2012 and the many developments that have taken place since.

Against a backdrop of growing global awareness that our ecosystems and biodiversity underpin both wealth creation and human security, the Rio Earth Summit saw the launch of the Natural Capital Declaration, a global finance-led initiative convened by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the Global Canopy Programme.

By signing the Declaration, CEOs at the helm of 39 banks, investment funds and insurance companies announced their commitment to understanding their impacts and dependencies on natural capital, and to incorporating natural capital considerations into their products and accounting. The United Nations Environment Programme is one of the key partners in the World Forum on Natural Capital, which will mark an important step in moving the debate further towards action.

Go to the event website for more information.

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2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Climate Change

The aim objective of the 2013 2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Climate Change (ICBCC 2013) is to provide a platform for researchers, engineers, academicians as well as industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research results and development activities in Biodiversity and Climate Change.The 2013 2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Climate Change (ICBCC 2013) will be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE during November 17-18, 2013.

This conference provides opportunities for the delegates to exchange new ideas and application experiences face to face, to establish business or research relations and to find global partners for future collaboration.

Go to the main website for more information.

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Call for Presentations

FORESTS AS CAPITAL: Top-down and bottom-up finance approaches to conserve tropical forests
 
The dynamic landscape of tropical land use, deforestation, global governance, and economic development is pushing the need for evolution of the conservation toolbox. Complex financial mechanisms such as carbon markets, product certifications, mitigation banking, and supply chain management have valuable roles in tropical forest conservation, but remain difficult to access for many forest rights holders and advocates. At the same time, large scale commodity investment continues to threaten tropical forests and livelihoods.
 
The Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) is proud to announce the 20th Annual ISTF Conference at Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, to be held on January 30, 2014– February 1, 2014. This year’s conference will discuss forest conservation in the context of the capital approach (top down) and the local approach (bottom up) of attracting financial resources for conservation and generating sustainable revenues from forest resources.
 
The keynote panel will include a video address by Christiana Figueres (UNFCCC) and a panel response from Isabel Hagbrink (World Bank FCPF Communications Director), Per Fredrik Ilsaas Pharo (Director, International Climate and Forest Initiative, Norway), Carlos Klink (Former Director of the Brazilian Amazon Initiative, IFC), and Michael Jenkins (President, Forest Trends). Finally, to celebrate 20 years of the ISTF Conference at Yale ISTF will launch its inaugural annual prize contest with the Forest Finance Innovation Prize (FFIP). The FFIP will provide a monetary prize to the group with the most innovative and applicable financial initiative that promotes forest conservation (see separate announcement for details). The conference’s topics will include:
 
  • Capital approaches to conservation: how can large-scale investment from donors and forest investors be structured to maximize conservation value?
  • What is the potential of the international forest carbon market versus local markets such as watershed services and mitigation banks?
  • Local approaches to conservation: how can community conservation projects scale up to the landscape level, attract capital, and become financially sustainable?
  • How can commodity markets (i.e., soy, beef, oil palm) be regulated or incentivized to reduce their impact on tropical forests?
 
To apply: Submissions of abstract / concept note based on either primary research or institutional experience are solicited from researchers and professionals in the field of tropical conservation. Abstract / concept note of 1/2 page should contain:
  1. Name(s) of the author(s), address, telephone, and e-mail of the corresponding author
  2. Title, concept note, and type of presentation (presentation or poster)
  3. Author affiliation(s)
 
Please submit electronic concept notes by Sunday, November 17, 2013 to: [email protected]
 
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ISTF Forest Finance Innovation Prize Contest

The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies’ International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) is delighted to invite youto participate in our 1st Annual ISTF Innovation Prize: The Forest Finance Innovation Prize. The prize contest will take place at the 20th Annual ISTF Conference at Yale School of Forestry &Environmental Studies, to be held on January 30, 2014 – February 1, 2014.
 

Objective

Inspired on the conference’s theme “Forest as Capital: Top- ­down and bottom-up finance approaches to conserve tropical forests”, the ISTF Forest Finance Innovation Prize aims to bring to attention practical and strategic finance initiatives designed to conserve tropical forest ecosystems and that answer either (but not limited to) of the following:

  • What tools can transform traditional donor- ­backed conservation to financially sustainable conservation and livelihoods?
  • What are practical methods that can be incorporated into private investment in the tropics (agricultural commodities, mining, timber extraction, etc.) that can ensure permanent conservation value?
  • How can sustainably- ­sourced forest products find markets in their country of origin and not be dependent on export?
     

Criteria

  • Project must be implementable and address an issue of forest conservation in the tropics.
  • Project will be judged on originality, potential of environmental impact, social inclusiveness and respect, and economic soundness.
  • The project must have a local institution involved (ex: project developer, implementer, sponsor, collaborators).
  • Project team needs to show they are qualified to execute the project and/or have identified potential collaborators; multidisciplinary project teams are encouraged.
  • Preliminary field testing or pilot studies are encouraged.
  • Exceptional projects in vision but less developed in practice will be recognized in a separate award category (but may not eligible for travel and prize money).
     

Eligibility
Forest Conservation initiatives in any stage of development, from any sector, (academia, non- ­profit, business, governmental) scale, and tropical region are eligible. A local institution from the region of project implementation must be involved.


Selection and award
Projects will be judged by a review panel consisting of representatives of foundation donors, project investors and developers, environmental economics experts, applied researchers, and financial consultants, together with the ISTF team. The committee will select 3 finalists to present their initiatives at the ISTF Conference at Yale, with conference fees, transportation, and lodging costs covered. Finalists must be at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies from January 31 to February 1. The winning proposal will be announced during the conference awards ceremony on February 1 and awarded with a monetary prize of US$5,000, generously provided by the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation.


To apply:

  • Submit a concept note with the following information:
    a. Proponent(s)’ name(s), affiliation(s), address, telephone, and email address
    b. 1 paragraph abstract
    c. Problem statement
    d. Project’s localization
    e. Description of proposed forest finance initiative, with no more than 2 (two) pages Send concept note electronically by Friday, November 177, 2013 to: [email protected].


Timeline:

November 17, 2013: Deadline for submissions of concept note
November 27, 2013: Announcement of 3 finalists
November 27 to December 5, 2013: Finalists travel arrangements
January 31, 2014: Finalists oral presentation
February 1, 2014: Winner announcement and awards

Contact information:

Desirée Lopes at [email protected]
Matthew Bare at [email protected]

 

 

Read more about the competition here.  

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Private Sector and Biodiversity-Based Innovation: Looking Forward

This high-level meeting aims at identifying the type of interventions the GEF should engage with the private sector (including support for enabling policy environments, financial assistance, corporate alliances, and capacity building/incuabtion for innovation) to make the agreements on the use of genetic resources under the provisions of the Nagoya Protocol a reality.

The event is convened by The Global Environment Facility (GEF), in cooperation with the ABS Capacity Development Initiative & the Union for Ethical BioTrade. An event funded byteh Nagoya Protocol Implementaion Fund (NPIF) and the GEF.

Related Links

gef_biodiversity_meeting.pdf

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State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2013

Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace will unveil its most recent State of the Forest Carbon Markets report on November 6, 2013. The report, which details our latest findings on the state of forest carbon projects’ structure, standards, and finance, will be freely available on both the Ecosystem Marketplace and Forest Carbon Portal websites on and after this date.

 
In 2012, the State of the Forest Carbon Markets report was Ecosystem Marketplace’s most widely-accessed research product. This year’s edition explores topics ranging from global market activity; to the time-cost of the project cycle; to the changing dynamics of forest finance. Supported by more data points and representing projects in more locations than ever before, we’re confident that our 2013 report will inform a broad range of policy, practitioner and investment discussions.
 
Join us to learn about the results first-hand at our London launch event! Hosted by Ecoinvest Services/Bunge Environmental Markets, we will host a panel of experts to present and discuss report findings from 4:30-6pm, followed by cocktails. RSVP here to reserve a space – and act fast, space is limited to 50 seats!
 
 
When: 4:30-6pm
Where: Bunge Environmental Markets/Ecoinvest
 3 More London Riverside SE1 2AQ
 London, United Kingdom
RSVP: By COB November 4, 2013
 
 
 
Ecosystem Marketplace wishes to thank our 2013 report Premium Sponsors:  The Program on Forests (PROFOR), the  World Bank BioCarbon Fund,  Face the Future,  New Forests; and sponsors  Althelia Ecosphere  and Baker & McKenzie,  with additional support from the UK Forestry Commission’s Woodland Carbon Code program; all of which enable Ecosystem Marketplace to explore developments on the frontier of ecosystem service finance.
 
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Mitigation and Conservation Banking Class, University of California Davis

Learn about the exciting new field of wetland mitigation banking and species conservation banking with an intensive one day workshop on the legal, technical and financial aspects of habitat banking, which includes a field trip to an existing mitigation bank. Learn about the regulatory and legal history establishing mitigation banks and the current rules and practices that govern their operation. Explore the technical aspects such as site selection, watershed and species planning, project permitting, construction planning, credit evaluations and maintenance and monitoring issues. Gain an understanding of the business of banking including the financial assessments, market assessments and demand projections and the how-to’s of sales and marketing.

Related Links

mit_banking_class.pdf

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International Water Week Conference

The International Water Week Conference takes place over the course of two days where keynotes, sessions and workshops will cover the multifaceted challenges and opportunities of integrated water solutions. The four main themes /Tracks of the conference include: Technology for optimizing the urban water cycle; Urban Delta Technology, Planning and Management; Integrated urban water management; and Industrial-Municipal water use solutions. The venue for the IWW Conference is Amsterdam RAI.

The programme is a pre-programme based on a preliminary analysis of papers submitted and workshops planned. Authors that have submitted papers for the IWW Conference will be notified of acceptance between August 1st and 7th. Authors need to respond whether they will present before August 15th, and an advanced programme will be prepared by August 19th.

Go to the event website for more information.

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The 2nd Conference on Sustainable Business and Sustainable Develoment in Asia

Twenty five years ago, the Brundtland report – formally titled “Our Common Future” – launched the concept of sustainable development as “the process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.” At the heart of the concept of sustainable development lie two interrelated challenges: how to address our growth needs, in particular those of the developing countries, given the limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on our ability to meet present and future needs. Despite significant progress made since the publication of the Brundtland report, the twin challenges of sustainable development remain valid to the present day. What type of governance structures, business practices, technological innovations, legal agreements or policy tools can best bridge the needs-limitation gap in order to facilitate and accelerate sustainable development? The rapid economic growth of the developing countries in Asia in the recent decades has added a new dimension to this process, by shifting the leverage of change from the West to the East. Designing infrastructure, products, enterprises and processes with sustainability in mind can have an enormous impact on environmental and social systems.

Building on the success from the last year, the 2013 Conference on Sustainable Development and Business in Asia, to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2013 offers a platform for scholarly and applied conversations among a wide variety of stakeholders concerned with the continual challenge of advancing the sustainable development and business agenda: people, planet, and growth. Because this is an emerging paradigm, there is much research and exploration that is needed. Academics, researchers, students and representatives from industry, government and non-governmental organizations need to both share their findings and learn from each other, in order to facilitate the transformation in how economic activity is conducted, allowing human societies to be sustained and to thrive.

As the fields of sustainable development and sustainable business cross over into multiple areas and disciplines, authors are welcome to submit from a range of topics, perspectives, and disciplines. The range of research submissions may include conceptual, empirical, experimental, and case studies. We particularly invite papers making empirical and theoretical contributions about the social and economic processes impacting on sustainable development; global environmental governance, business and public policy approaches; technological innovations; climate change adaptation & mitigation; renewable energy development.

Major Themes:

  • Sustainable Business, Production and Consumption
  • Science & Technology of Sustainability
  • Global Governance of Sustainable Development
  • Climate Change and Sustainability
  • Sustainable Energy Policies

Special Themes:

  • Tourism (Eco, Geo, Sustainable)
  • Agribusiness and Sustainable Fishing
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)
  • The Digital Divide in Asia
  • Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Go to the event website for more information.

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ISTF Forest Finance Innovation Prize Contest

The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies’ International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) is delighted to invite you to participate in our 1st Annual ISTF Innovation Prize: The Forest Finance Innovation Prize. The prize contest will take place at the 20th Annual ISTF Conference at Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, to be held on January 30, 2014 – ­‐ February 1, 2014.

 
Objective
Inspired on  the conference’s  theme “Forest as  Capital: Top- ­‐down  and bottom- ­‐up finance  approaches to conserve tropical forests”, the ISTF Forest Finance Innovation Prize aims to bring to attention practical  and  strategic  finance initiatives designed to conserve tropical forest ecosystems and that answer either (but not limited to) of the following:
 
  • What  tools  can  transform  traditional  donor- ­‐backed  conservation  to  financially  sustainable  conservation  and livelihoods?
  • What   are   practical   methods   that   can   be   incorporated   into   private   investment   in   the   tropics   (agricultural commodities, mining, timber extraction, etc.) that can ensure permanent conservation value?
  • How  can  sustainably- ­‐sourced  forest  products  find  markets  in  their  country  of  origin  and  not  be  dependent  on export?
Criteria
  • Project must be implementable and address an issue of forest conservation in the tropics.
  • Project  will  be  judged  on  originality,  potential  of  environmental  impact,  social  inclusiveness  and  respect,  and economic  soundness.
  • The project must have a local institution involved (ex: project developer, implementer, sponsor, collaborators).
  • Project team needs to show they are qualified to execute the project and/or have identified potential collaborators; multidisciplinary project teams are encouraged.
  • Preliminary field testing or pilot studies are encouraged.
  • Exceptional projects in vision but less developed in practice will be recognized in a separate award category (but may not eligible for travel and prize money).
Eligibility
Forest Conservation initiatives in any stage of development, from any sector, (academia, non- ­‐profit, business, governmental) scale, and tropical region are eligible. A local institution from the region of project implementation must be involved.
 
Selection and award
Projects will be judged by a review panel consisting of representatives of foundation donors, project investors and developers, environmental  economics  experts,  applied researchers,  and financial consultants,  together  with the ISTF team. The committee will select 3 finalists to present their initiatives at the ISTF Conference at Yale, with conference fees, transportation, and lodging costs covered. Finalists must be at  the  Yale  School  of  Forestry  &  Environmental Studies from January 31 to February 1. The winning proposal will be announced during the  conference  awards ceremony on February 1 and awarded with a monetary prize of US$5,000, generously provided by the Andrew Sabin Family  Foundation.

To apply:

Submit a concept note with the following information:
  • Proponent(s)’ name(s), affiliation(s), address, telephone, and e- ­‐mail address
  • 1 paragraph abstract
  • Problem  statement
  • Project’s  localization
  • Description of proposed forest finance initiative, with no more than 2 (two) pages Send concept note electronically by Friday, November 15, 2013 to: [email protected] .
Timeline:
 
November 15, 2013: Deadline for submissions of concept note
November 27, 2013: Announcement of 3 finalists
November 27 to December 5, 2013: Finalists travel arrangements January 31, 2014: Finalists oral presentation
February 1, 2014: Winner announcement and awards
 
Contact information:
Desirée Lopes at [email protected]
Matthew Bare at [email protected]
 
 
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Argus California Carbon Summit 2013

 Understand how to manage California’s complex carbon market:

Have you previously attended various conferences that described the Carbon Cap-and-Trade rules, regulations, and program structure? Are you ready to make meaningful business  decisions, implement hedge strategies or participate in auctions? Are you asking yourself the question “Now that Cap-and-Trade is here, what should I do about it? How does it affect my  business? How can I hedge my exposure? Can my company benefit from knowing the market?”

Join us for informative sessions that will address the business and transactional aspects of the  Cap-and-Trade program including the dynamics of procuring carbon allowances at auction and  in the secondary market, offset procurement and strategies, managing regulatory and market changes, among many other relevant topics.

Why attend the carbon conference?

  • Learn about innovative market products to help manage the risks of allowances and offsets
  • Network with key carbon market participants including covered entities and intermediaries
  • Understand how different entities look at program and hedge management
  • Understand key developments to watch and expect as Cap-and-Trade enters its second compliance year
  • Hear expert opinion on regulatory and market issues and challenges, and how these issues may impact market prices
  • Participate in hands-on strategy implementation in auction theory and a “mock” auction
  • Interact with major market participants through one-on-one breakout sessions
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Argus California Carbon Summit 2013

 Understand how to manage California’s complex carbon market:

Have you previously attended various conferences that described the Carbon Cap-and-Trade rules, regulations, and program structure? Are you ready to make meaningful business decisions, implement hedge strategies or participate in auctions? Are you asking yourself the question “Now that Cap-and-Trade is here, what should I do about it? How does it affect my business? How can I hedge my exposure? Can my company benefit from knowing the market?”
 
Join us for informative sessions that will address the business and transactional aspects of the Cap-and-Trade program including the dynamics of procuring carbon allowances at auction and in the secondary market, offset procurement and strategies, managing regulatory and market changes, among many other relevant topics.
 
Why attend the carbon conference?
 
  • Learn about innovative market products to help manage the risks of allowances and offsets
  • Network with key carbon market participants including covered entities and intermediaries
  • Understand how different entities look at program and hedge management
  • Understand key developments to watch and expect as Cap-and-Trade enters its second compliance year
  • Hear expert opinion on regulatory and market issues and challenges, and how these issues may impact market prices
  • Participate in hands-on strategy implementation in auction theory and a “mock” auction
  • Interact with major market participants through one-on-one breakout sessions
 
Please contact Antonette Jones at [email protected] and be sure to mention you saw this event listing on Ecosystem Marketplace to receive a 10% discount off registration fees.
 
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Considering Compensations in Latin America: Carbon Management, Communities and Corporate Responsibility

Beyond actions facilitated by clients in the developed world, there is a marked increase in the desire of private sector firms in the southern hemisphere to respond to their own environmental footprint.  We invite you to participate in Valorando Naturaleza’s second webinar of the Launch Year Series focused on the topic of green decision-making by business leaders in the region.

Latin America is home to an increasing number of south-south transactions concerning environment and climate responsibility. Recently, the Brazilian indigenous Surui community made headlines with the launch of their verified forest carbon compensation project and subsequent carbon offset purchase by a major Brazilian cosmetics firm. Likewise, the Costa Rican government just launched their national C-Neutral program, which is the first private climate exchange in the southern hemisphere.  This  webinar will highlight these efforts and more!

Private sector speakers from Brazil-  Keyvan Macedo of Natura, Chile- Carlos Berner of the Santiago Climate Exchange and Valentina Lira of Concha y Toro Winery and Costa Rica – Sylvia Chaves of Florex will discuss how forest carbon offsets fit into their strategies and what their experience has been engaging in such deals.  Valorando Naturaleza, sister site to Ecosystem Marketplace will present  the context of these actions with regional findings from the 2013 State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets report, produced by Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace.

Moderated by: Carina Bracer, Project Manager, Valorando Naturaleza
Panelists: Carlos Berner: Santiago Climate Exchange (Chile)
Valentina Lira, Sustainability Director: Concha y Toro Winery, (Chile)
Sylvia Chavez Quesada, Vice President: FLOREX (Costa Rica)
Keyvan Macedo, Director of Sustainability: Natura (Brazil)

Valorando Naturaleza will present the webinar, Considering Compensations in Latin America: Carbon Management, Communities And Corporate Responsibility on Friday Oct 25th at 12pm EST. This online webinar focused on green decision making and south-south marketplace developments will be presented in Spanish.  

There will be ample time for questions from the public for panelists and the host following the presentations.  
We hope to see you Friday the 25th of October at 1pm EST.

REGISTER HERE FOR THIS EVENT. SPACE IS RESTRICTED!
 

The presentations and recording of the Webinar will be available here following the event.
For any questions please contact, Carina Bracer at [email protected].

 

 
 
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Ecosystem Services and Markets Class, University of California Davis

Explore the innovative field of ecosystem services and learn how these habitat-based markets can provide new revenues streams to traditional open space, forest and agricultural lands. Learn about the different rules and regulations that have created these new markets and the tools used to value them. Explore the different markets from wetland mitigation adn endangered species conservation banks, water quality markets and carbon trading.

Obtain hands-on tools to assess and develop these types of habitat based alternative revenue generators. This class is designed to provide planners, appraisers, land attorneys, real estate professionals, land trust and government land managers with the ecological tools and the economic models to assess the viability of creating real economic value with an emphasis on today’s income generating markets for protecting and preserving the environment.

Related Links

es_2013_class.pdf

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5th World Conference on Ecological Restoration

The SER2013 World Conference on Ecological Restoration: Reflections on the Past, Directions for the Future will bring together more than 1,200 delegates from around the world interested in the science and practice of ecological restoration as it relates to natural resource management, climate change responses, biodiversity conservation, local and indigenous communities, environmental policy and sustainable livelihoods.

SER2013 is the 5th World Conference of the Society for Ecological Restoration.

Go to the website for more information.

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SER2013

The SER2013 will be held from Oct 6-11, 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin, at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center. The conference will bring together more than 1,500 delegates from around the world interested in the science and practice of ecological restoration. There will be four days of concurrent sessions organized around ecological restoration as it relates to topics such as natural resource management, climate change responses, biodiversity conservation, local and indigenous communities, environmental policy and sustainable livelihoods, and more. The conference will feature world-renowned keynote and plenary speakers as well as numerous symposia, training workshops, concurrent scientific sessions and field trips. There will be quite a bit of focus on ecosystem services and the economics of restoration and conservation.  

For more information on this event, click here  

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WEF Stormwater Congress

The inaugural WEF Stormwater Congress, taking place in Chicago on October 5-9, 2013, is an exciting place to engage with leaders in the stormwater sector and is a unique opportunity to be part of something innovative and different at WEFTEC. Because this audience and topic is growing rapidly, and has a long and successful history at WEFTEC, WEF has expanded the offerings and created an integrated event, the Stormwater Congress. Combining the strong history of WEFTEC with new programs, events, and networking opportunities, the Stormwater Congress is sure to spotlight this important topic and bring new audiences together to provide input on policy discussions and focus on innovative approaches and ideas required to meet the challenges of today and beyond.

The Congress encompasses all pressing aspects of stormwater management in unique sessions, a luncheon, exhibits, a mobile session, a technical tour, and other exciting ways to network with colleagues in the stormwater industry. Below are descriptions of each of these exciting and dynamic Congress features.

Go to the event website for more information.

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10th World Wilderness Congress

WILD10, the 10th World Wilderness Congress (WWC), will convene this October in Spain to “Make the World a Wilder Place.” Involving up to 1200 delegates from over 50 nations, with an estimated 30,000 on-line, WILD10 is focused on state-of-the-art information, inspiration, and practical, positive results in policy, protected areas, economics, business, communications, and more.

With a significant history of accomplishments, the WWC is the world’s longest-running, international, public project and process for wild nature and human society. WILD10’s collaborative process was invited to Europe by the Spanish Government, the European Commission, and a host of conservation NGOs. Delegates are from governments, NGOs, business, science, indigenous communities, recreation and sport, the arts and the public. WILD10 is an exciting and diverse array of best-practice models, newly forged solutions, cultural events, trainings, associated meetings, and symposia.

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