Rupert Edwards
Senior Finance and Carbon AdvisorPublic-Private Finance Initiative
Rupert Edwards is Senior Advisor, Public Private Finance Initiative. He provides thought leadership on topics related to REDD+, climate finance and investment, carbon markets, and valuing environmental benefits. He was formerly a Managing Director of Climate Change Capital (2004-11), where roles included Head of Portfolio Management, Carbon Finance, and where he invested in low- carbon projects in developing countries on behalf of major institutional investor clients. From 1988 to 2002, he worked in financial markets for US bank JPMorgan, including as Head of European Government Bond trading. Rupert has also acted as a consultant to the World Bank, and has authored and contributed to a number of papers on topics such as investment and climate change. He is often invited to participate as an expert on environmental finance issues, including with the US State Department, UK government, OECD, United Nations and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China, as well as with government ministries in forest countries such as Brazil and Peru and with other NGOs. Rupert has an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, London and an MA in History from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Pathways to value
Achieving a breakthrough for international climate finance for tropical forest conservation
By Rupert Edwards View PublicationReversing the global trend of tropical forest loss remains the largest barrier for natural climate solutions contributing to climate goals at their fullest potential. This paper looks at past challenges to scaling finance to end tropical deforestation and restore degraded forests. We then consider a set of core “pathways to value” for REDD+. Within these […]
The Net Zero Transition and Offsetting of Carbon Intensity in Retail Investment Portfolios
By Rupert Edwards View PublicationThe financial sector is witnessing a rapid evolution in climate metrics, driven by both regulatory pressure and consumer-driven trends toward sustainable investment, helping investors prioritize lower carbon investments. Overlooked to date has been the potential for product offerings that mobilize demand for carbon offsets from investors. This paper argues that the development of consumer-facing financial[…]
A Gigaton REDD+ Bid Strategy
Unlocking the potential for REDD+ in supporting the protection of rainforests and other “natural climate solutions” in tropical forest countries
By Rupert Edwards View PublicationA massive increase in public and private results-based funding commitments is critical to protect tropical rainforests and other “natural climate solutions” in tropical forest countries, and thus to hopes of holding global warming below 2°C. REDD+ programs, that avoid and reverse the loss of tropical forests, can contribute trillions of dollars in value by “flattening[…]
Harnessing Private Investor ‘Willingness-to-Pay’ for Climate Change Mitigation
A Mechanism to Co-fund Public Commitments to Achieve the Goals of the Paris Agreement
By Rupert Edwards View PublicationPrivate investors currently have little opportunity to deploy investment capital on concessionary terms for climate impact. This paper proposes that a significant percentage of social responsible investment (SRI), impact, and many mainstream investors would be willing to pay a modest donation on the nominal value of their investment portfolios in order to support climate change[…]
Toward a Financial Architecture to Protect Tropical Forests
The Case of Brazil
By Rupert Edwards View PublicationThis report focuses on Brazil both as a critical forest country and in order to describe an architecture of finance based on a particular framework of law and existing institutional efforts to protect forests. Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, Brazil has the most developed legislative framework for tropical forest protection in the Forest Code, powerful […]
Dependent Documents
Toward a Financial Architecture to Protect Tropical Forests
The Case of Brazil (Executive Summary)
By Rupert Edwards
Toward a Financial Architecture to Protect Tropical Forests
The Case of Brazil (Executive Summary)
By Rupert Edwards View PublicationThis report focuses on Brazil both as a critical forest country and in order to describe an architecture of finance based on a particular framework of law and existing institutional efforts to protect forests. Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, Brazil has the most developed legislative framework for tropical forest protection in the Forest Code, powerful […]
A Financial Strategy for the Production-Protection Compact in the Peruvian Amazon
By Lawrence Szott, Gustavo Suárez de Freitas, Victor Galarreta, Daniel Coronel, Frank Hicks - Contributing Authors: Rupert Edwards, Josh Gregory View PublicationThe production-protection compact (PPC), proposed and outlined over the two previous papers in this series, can form a key element of Peru’s strategy to reduce deforestation, on the basis that environmentally sustainable and economically profitable agricultural production can be combined with increased forest conservation to enable sustainable development that improves livelihoods and environmental protection. A[…]
Conectando REDD+ Para Apoiar as Metas Climáticas do Brasil e a Implementação do Código Florestal
By Rupert Edwards - Forest Trends View Publication
Linking REDD+ to Support Brazil’s Climate Goals and Implementation of the Forest Code
By Rupert Edwards - Forest Trends View PublicationBrazil has made significant progress in reducing deforestation in recent years while increasing agriculture production. Full implementation of the Forest Code will be the central element in achieving Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. However, Brazil should aim for more ambitious targets for avoided deforestation than simply zero illegal deforestation. The overall […]
Dependent Documents
Conectando REDD+ Para Apoiar as Metas Climáticas do Brasil e a Implementação do Código Florestal
By Rupert Edwards - Forest Trends
Linking REDD+ to Support Brazil’s Climate Goals and Implementation of the Forest Code
By Rupert Edwards View PublicationBrazil has made significant progress in reducing deforestation in recent years while increasing agriculture production. Full implementation of the Forest Code will be the central element in achieving Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. However, Brazil should aim for more ambitious targets for avoided deforestation than simply “zero illegal deforestation.” The overall […]
Cerrando las Brechas de Financiemiento del Desarrollo de Bajas Emisiones Rurales a Través de Estrategias Integradas de Financiemiento
By Sarah Lowery, David Tepper, Rupert Edwards View Publication
Bridging Financing Gaps
By Sarah Lowery, David Tepper, Rupert Edwards View PublicationThe amount of capital deployed through REDD+ is just a small percentage of what is needed. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation by 50 percent will require between $17 and $33 billion per year, but only $4.5 billion was deployed for REDD+ was through 2012. And forest carbon markets’ value was estimated at USD […]
Dependent Documents
Cerrando las Brechas de Financiemiento del Desarrollo de Bajas Emisiones Rurales a Través de Estrategias Integradas de Financiemiento
By Sarah Lowery, David Tepper, Rupert Edwards
Financing Low Emissions Rural Development:
Bridging Financing Gaps & Jurisdictional REDD+ Bonds
By Rupert Edwards, David Tepper, Sarah LoweryBridging Financing Gaps Bridging Financing Gaps for Low-Emissions Rural Development through Integrated Finance Strategies REDD+ funds are limited, but agricultural finance pools are quite large. Integrating these pools of finance can help catalyze substantial additional finance flowing into sustainable agriculture that conserves forests. The amount of capital deployed through REDD+ is just a small percentage[…]
Dependent Documents
Bridging Financing Gaps for Low-Emissions Rural Development through Integrated Finance Strategies
By Sarah Lowery, David Tepper, Rupert Edwards
Cerrando las Brechas de Financiemiento del Desarrollo de Bajas Emisiones Rurales a Través de Estrategias Integradas de Financiemiento
By Sarah Lowery, David Tepper, Rupert Edwards
Jurisdictional REDD+ Bonds: Leveraging Private Finance for Forest Protection, Development, and Sustainable Agriculture Supply Chains
By Rupert Edwards, David Tepper, Sarah Lowery
Bridging Financing Gaps for Low-Emissions Rural Development through Integrated Finance Strategies
By Sarah Lowery, David Tepper, Rupert Edwards View Publication
Cerrando las Brechas de Financiemiento del Desarrollo de Bajas Emisiones Rurales a Través de Estrategias Integradas de Financiemiento
By Sarah Lowery, David Tepper, Rupert Edwards View Publication