Belize’s efforts in Natural Capital Accounting and its Blue Bond Program are being showcased at the People, Planet, and Prosperity Forum (3Ps) at the Standford University campus in California, USA, from June 3 to 4. The 3Ps Forum, organized by the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Standford Natural Capital Project, brings together experts from multilateral organizations and pilot countries to share lessons learned in mainstreaming natural capital approaches in policy and investment decisions.
Belize has been selected as one of the pilot projects to secure and monitor its natural capital to achieve targets set by results-based financing. The Belize Pilot Project will develop key performance indicators (KPIs) for high-priority, results-based blue finance mechanisms, setting the goalposts for tracking the country’s progress toward achieving the targets on which these finance mechanisms are based. Additionally, the project will develop a monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) process to track the KPIs over time.
Beverly Wade, Director of the Blue Bond and Finance Permanence Unit, and Leroy Martinez, Acting Director of the Climate Finance Unit, gave presentations on the goals, key actors, activities, outcomes and next steps of the Belize Natural Capital Project. Ms. Wade also participated in a panel discussion on addressing challenges and solutions related to policy, finance, ecosystem services, and pathways to impact policy and finance decisions.
Throughout the forum, the Belize Blue Bond was identified as a successful example of results-based financing by leveraging the value of Belize’s natural capital to unlock non-traditional financing from the private sector to address debt and investment in nature. Belize also participated in bilateral meetings with Stanford Natural Capital and the IDB to discuss the pilot project’s progress and leverage it to capitalize on upcoming initiatives. Under the Blue Bonds Program Belize has committed to protecting up to 30 percent (10,113 square kilometers) of its ocean areas, including coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves and other important marine habitats.
At the Natural Capital Symposium, held from June 4 to 7, 2024, Belize will join leaders from governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector, and civil society to discuss incorporating natural capital approaches into policy and investment decisions and creating a global community of practice. Other participants from Belize include Belizario Carballo from the Blue Bond and Finance Permanence Unit and Jamani Balderamos of the Nature Conservancy are also participating from Belize.