OPIC/Terra Global REDD Insurance Project in Cambodia Wins Sustainable Forestry Award
July 19, 2012
(OPIC)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The first political risk insurance contract for a Reduced
Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) project, provided by the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to Terra Global Capital for a
project in Cambodia, has been awarded the Sustainable Forestry Transaction of
the Year by Environmental Finance magazine.
The award recognizes “excellence in the application of capital markets know-how
to addressing the world’s environmental problems.” The magazine’s criteria
rewarded deals that were “novel, offered the potential for replication, and
facilitated the solution of environmental problems using finance and/or market
mechanisms.” Environmental Finance is the leading global publication covering
the financial impact of environmental issues on the business community.
The OPIC insurance project, announced in November 2011, will help protect 64,318
hectares of forest in Cambodia and sequester approximately 8.7 million metric
tons of CO2e. OPIC is providing $900,000 in political risk insurance to Terra
Global Capital, a U.S-based leading land-use carbon development and investment
company that has invested in the project.
Mark Nicholls, editor of Environmental Finance, said, “So many opportunities to
cost-effectively tackle the world’s environmental problems are found in
jurisdictions in which investors struggle to operate – and which use novel
mechanisms, such as REDD, which carry plenty of risk themselves. So it’s
encouraging to see institutions such as OPIC stepping up to the plate with
support for investments like the one that Terra has made in its cutting-edge
projects in Cambodia.”
OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield said, “We are deeply honored that
Environmental Finance, a respected voice for the sustainable development of
natural resources, has recognized this innovative project. By encouraging
public-private cooperation to both protect forests and support the economies
that border them, we see great promise in the development of the forest carbon
sector, and this project should have applications across many emerging markets.
We are equally proud to share this award with Terra Global Capital.”
Leslie Durschinger, Founder and Managing Director of Terra Global Capital, said,
“Through our commitment to creating forest and agricultural carbon assets with
environmental integrity and our ability to use financial innovation to attract
capital and reduce risk we are creating investment opportunities in the sector.”
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