Imperative, the Nature Infrastructure Company™, is launching Phase 2 of its Spekboom Ecosystem Restoration Project in South Africa, backed by $91 million in blended financing and a long-term strategic offtake agreement signed with Amazon.
The blended financing combines $25 million of capital directed from a $120 million outcome bond issued by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and structured by BNP Paribas, with a $66 million syndicated streaming facility from GenZero, Mirova, Rubicon Carbon, and Bregal Sphere.
The announcement highlights that the outcome bond is a World Bank principal-protected instrument, through which a portion of the fixed coupon ordinarily payable to bond investors is channelled to support the project’s Phase 2 expansion.
Investors, on the other hand, receive a coupon that includes a fixed component plus a variable component linked to nature-based carbon removal credits delivered by the project to Amazon.
With this strong financial support, Imperial will advance to the next phase of operations on its Spekboom initiative, focused on native species reforestation in the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa.
In May 2024, the project commenced with Phase 1 activities, covering a 10,000-hectare territory of degraded natural ecosystems impacted by intensive goat pastoralism and unsustainable herbivorous browsing.
At that time, the project was funded by Mirova, GenZero, and Rubicon, which have all returned as investors in Phase 2, joined by new supporter Bregal Sphere. As shared by Imperative, this next phase of the project will entail a 50,000-hectare expansion.
This latest financial injection brings the total committed capital through both project phases to $114 million across 60,000 funded hectares.
Relevant: Bregal Sphere To Back Imperative With Up To $500M For Nature Restoration Project
Looking ahead, Imperative hopes to reach a coverage of 100,000 hectares once the project is operating at full scale, projected to yield more than 35 million tonnes of CO2e over a 40-year crediting period.
The Spekboom Ecosystem Restoration Project has already received a BeZero Carbon ‘AApre’ rating with low execution risk. The initiative is also listed as a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Restoration Flagship.
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