Enhanced Access to Capital
Background
Getting hold of capital to fund green initiatives, can be a huge hurdle for businesses and sectors to overcome. As The Aotearoa circle was developing our Tourism, Agri & Seafood roadmaps, we heard this message frequently from a range of businesses and industries.
To address this, The Aotearoa Circle convened leaders from major banks, government representatives, and the agriculture, tourism and seafood sectors. Together, they engaged in a series of discussions on how we could enhance access to capital for climate change adaptation and nature restoration.
The conversation series was held in three stages:
1
We first hosted an open webinar in partnership with Fit for a Better World and Toitū Tahua, Centre for Sustainable Finance.
Our panel presentations included representatives from ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Rabobank and Westpac, covering topics such as the international & domestic lending, and practical examples of sustainable finance in New Zealand.
2
Our second workshop was a bank only session attended by leaders from ANZ, ASB, BNZ, HSBC, Rabobank and Westpac.
This workshop was an opportunity for the banks to discuss the insights, problems, and opportunities for improving accessibility to green finance such as transaction costs and blended finance.
3
Finally, we hosted three separate focus sessions, one each for the agriculture, tourism, and seafood sectors.
These sessions included representatives from small/medium enterprises, large corporates, industry bodies, and banks.
The purpose of these sessions was to discuss the share challenges across all sectors discuss potential actions we could take to address them.
A pre-webinar survey was completed by over 100 registrants:
55% of survey participants had heard of sustainable finance, but had little/no knowledge on the topic.
60% were either unaware of their options, or felt sustainable finance is too complicated or expensive to engage in.
79% of farmers either had limited knowledge or believed sustainable finance wasn’t accessible to them.
50% believe the cost/benefit incentive isn’t great enough.
Sustainability Funding Ecosystem Map
With their input, we have co-developed this ‘funding pathways map’, which shows what sustainability funding is available in Aotearoa.
This map will be updated as new green finance offerings become available. The Aotearoa Circle has committed to updating this live map until March 2025 and we welcome your suggestions to enhance or update the map, treating it as a living document so it can be maximally useful and relevant.
Click the image below to view the map.
See something missing?
The Aotearoa Circle has committed to updating this live map until March 2025 and we welcome your suggestions to enhance or update the map, treating it as a living document so it can remain useful and relevant.