Applications Invited for GFCR Technical Assistance and Capital Acceleration Providers

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About the Organization

The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is a public-private coalition deploying a range of financial solutions and support for sustainable businesses to improve the resilience of coastal ecosystems, economies, and communities.

Hosting both an Investment Fund and a Grant Fund, GFCR’s portfolio focuses on four impact sectors: Sustainable Ocean Production; Sustainable Coastal Development; Circular Economy and Pollution Management; and Financial Mechanisms.

GFCR’s portfolio ranges from Latin America and the Caribbean to eastern Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, with a notable presence in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The solutions in this portfolio are dedicated to coral reefs identified by leading scientific studies to have the best chance of surviving climate impacts.

These ‘reef-positive solutions’ include businesses and financial mechanisms that have a positive impact on coral reef health while providing sustainable benefits for local communities.

About the Grant

The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is a coalition between United Nations agencies, Member States, financial institutions, and private philanthropy sources, to catalyze financial resources towards the benefit of coral reef resilience and related coastal community and ecosystem benefits. The GFCR supports a range of programs, business models, and financial instruments that can sustainably finance key conservation and development goals for coral reefs. Technical assistance, capacity development, monitoring, and evaluation are provided via the UN-managed grant fund, complementing and boosting the impact potential of the investments made by a private equity fund managed by Pegasus Capital Advisors (PCA).

GFCR’s ‘reef-positive businesses’ include businesses that address local drivers of coral reef degradation while providing sustainable benefits for local communities. GFCR’s portfolio of reef-positive businesses encompasses the following sectors:

• Sustainable Ocean Production: Refers to projects and initiatives that promote environmentally responsible fishing and aquaculture practices aimed at reducing pressure on coral reefs. This includes projects focused on the development of marine protected areas, improved fish stock management, and measures to minimize bycatch.
• Sustainable Coastal Development: Pertains to projects that encourage sustainable ecotourism practices, coastal infrastructure, and coral restoration revenue models. These businesses are designed to benefit local communities while reducing pressure on coral reefs.
• Circular Economy and Pollution Management: Involves projects that promote sustainable infrastructure and waste management to reduce pollution and sedimentation adversely affecting coral reefs. This includes efforts to establish wastewater treatment plants, enhance solid waste management, and reduce the use of plastics.

Supported businesses strive to operate in adherence to the GFCR Investment Principles.

Objectives of the RFA & Deliverables:

​​The GFCR has launched a Request for Applications (RFA) to invite non-for-profit organisations to submit applications to support reef-positive businesses through tailored technical assistance (TA) and/or concessional finance (i.e., loans, equity, guarantees). The RFA serves to identify qualified non-profit organisations that can provide and/or coordinate one or both of the following for the investees of the GFCR:

• GFCR Flexible Technical Assistance: Targeted support for businesses and/or its associated value chain and ecosystem actors, either pre- or post-investment, focused on increasing its social and environmental development impact and financial viability in support of an integrated ecosystem approach for coral reef protection and climate resilience.
• GFCR Capital Acceleration: The provision of concessional loans, equity, or guarantees to strengthen credit history and de-risk private sector investment into innovative reef-positive businesses, including supporting network of SMEs to the GFCRs Investment Fund investments.

These two modalities address GFCR’s need for nimble, flexible and adaptable support for individual investments and ecosystem interventions, while ensuring they meet the GFCR’s Investment Principles, safeguards, risk management, and gender standards. Together, these modalities aim to catalyze investments to benefit ocean conservation, foster sustainable reef-positive initiatives, and serve as a valuable model for impact investors looking to promote environmental and social gains in complex and interconnected industrial and marine ecosystems.

Eligibility

Applications are open to non-profit organizations, including non-governmental (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). Applicants must have the capacity to plan, procure, coordinate and project manage, and in some cases implement technical assistance and/or concessional finance (loans, equity, and guarantees) for for-profit reef-positive businesses, projects, and programs.

How to Apply

Download the Request for Applications (RFA): GFCR Technical Assistance and Capital Acceleration Providers Template.

Please submit this completed document, along with further details, by 3 June 2024, 17:00 ET via: https://forms.gle/DdbciaNbSi9FTeks6. Any questions on the RFA process can be sent to globalfundcoralreefs@gmail.org.

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Tags Environment and Sustainability Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Others