Momentum for nature financing in Canada is growing, with the federal government listing mobilizing capital for nature as one of the pillars in its recently released nature strategy. But building a nature finance market takes more than capital. Investors, funders, governments, Indigenous Nations, and project developers often lack shared language, pathways, and capabilities to mobilize capital at the speed and scale this moment demands.
The Nature Investment Hub created the Nature Finance Bootcamp to bridge that gap.
Developed in collaboration with UBC Sauder’s Centre for Climate and Business Solutions and the Academy for Sustainable Innovation, the Bootcamp is an immersive learning experience designed to build the strategic, relational, and technical capacity needed to advance nature finance at the individual, organizational, and systems level. With support from the Metcalf Foundation and the Sitka Foundation, the Nature Investment Hub hosted the inaugural Bootcamp in April on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xÊ·məθkÊ·É™yÌ“É™m (Musqueam) Nation at UBC’s Point Grey campus.
Over four days, leaders from corporate, government, NGO, Indigenous-led, and philanthropic organizations came together to build relationships, develop shared fluency in nature finance, and work through the practical barriers to mobilizing capital at scale. Investors and funders gained insight into the realities of on-the-ground conservation and stewardship, and practitioners learned what it takes to build a financeable business case for their work. The throughline was a shared recognition that the solutions are within reach.
