Sustainable Financing Through the Project Finance for Permanence Model
Achieving durable conservation and commuity prosperity is essential for building resilience and advancing progress toward critical global biodiversity and climate targets. Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) offers a powerful mechanism to help meet the 2030 goals by securing carbon-rich ecosystems, protecting biodiversity, and fostering community resilience. In addition, PFPs ensure equitable and inclusive partnerships and deliver lasting social and environmental benefits.
Securing nature’s carbon: Intact ecosystems have a greater capacity to resist and adapt to climate change. Nature-based solutions such as conservation, restoration, and improved land management can provide one-third of the mitigation measures needed to hold global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius while also supporting ecosystems and communities in adapting to climate change. Enduring Earth will secure carbon stores to avoid greenhouse gas emissions by permanently protecting forests, grasslands, peatlands, mangroves, and other carbon-rich habitat. The PFP model offers a promising pathway for countries to deliver on their nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement.
Protecting nature and biodiversity: In December 2022 196 nations adopted the ‘Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’ at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The implementation of the sustainable finance PFP model is pivotal in driving progress toward the Global Biodiversity Framework’s key targets, notably Target 3 (protect 30% of lands and waters by 2030), Target 19 (resource mobilization), and Target 22 (inclusive and equitable decision-making).
By harnessing the impact of sustainable financing, we are not only working to safeguard the planet’s lands and waters, but also ensuring long-term funding for biodiversity and community development initiatives, while fostering inclusive governance structures, led through local leadership and collective action. With less than six years remaining to achieve the 2030 goals and targets outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the PFP model is emerging as a critical source of durable funding amidst evolving financial and political landscapes.
Community benefits, resilience, and equitable partnerships: Local leadership in setting project goals is essential to establishing projects that will provide permanence for conservation. We work with Indigenous peoples—whose lands are home to more species around the world than anywhere else, protecting 80% of global biodiversity—and local communities to ensure that conservation and protection activities align with local values. Their active leadership and stewardship is paramount to lasting conservation and benefits for local cultures, economies, health, jobs, and future generations.
Prior to Enduring Earth, the founding partners had worked with five countries to conserve 87 million hectares of lands, ocean, and freshwater using the PFP model. The partnership was established in 2021, and since this time Enduring Earth has facilitated the agreement of three new PFPs, securing 89 million hectares in durable funding for long-term conservation and community development. Because this approach does not work everywhere, a rigorous vetting process is applied—grounded in science, policy, finance, and equity. The initial portfolio of projects were selected through a suite of criteria, where funding would be invested in places that are:
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- Ecologically important
- Represent different biomes
- Have direct benefits for communities
- Are at-scale
- Represent life on earth
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What is Project Finance for Permanence?
The Project Finance for Permanence – PFP – model is a sustainable financing tool that enables governments, Indigenous peoples, local communities, funders, and NGOs to secure long-term management and durable for conservation areas through a single, comprehensive agreement. While each PFP is unique, they all share several core attributes:
Private Sector Finance Approach: PFPs are structured like private sector deals, with a single closing agreement that integrates all plans, funding, and commitments necessary to achieve both conservation and community development goals.
Large-Scale Impact: PFPs focus on broad networks of conservation areas, benefitting multiple communities and ecosystems.
Rigorous Planning: Each PFP includes detailed, thorough plans for conservation and community development, ensuring sustainable outcomes.
Community Leadership: Indigenous peoples and local communities are fully engaged in the process, with benefits tied directly to their own development and conservation priorities.
High Accountability: Independent governance ensures funds are managed transparently, with clear conditions for disbursement to ensure commitments are fulfilled.
Leveraged Funding: Private philanthropic and public funds catalyze significant investments from national governments, helping shift toward sustainable, locally sourced financing over time.
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Permanence
Inclusive Partnership
National Commitments
Sustained Funding
The PFP Approach
A PFP begins by uniting partners around an ambitious vision that combines conservation with community economic development.
Together, these partners develop a comprehensive financial model and budget to guide the project, ensuring sustainable funding and long-term success.
Private and public donors commit funds to launch the project, which in turn unlocks substantial investments from the national government. Donor funds are only released once the full fundraising target is achieved, and a binding agreement is in place.
This single, binding agreement—signed by governments, civil society, and donors—secures the complete set of resources, funds, and commitments needed for the project.
At closing, financing is placed into an independent fund governed by the stakeholders involved.
As the PFP is implemented, the fund disburses payments according to the agreed financial plan and performance metrics. Over time, the government increases its financial contribution, eventually taking on the full, long-term responsibility for conservation costs.
Current PFP Projects & Deals
Currently, Enduring Earth is working with more than 100 partners, governments, Indigenous peoples and local communities, and funders across 12 PFP projects in 11 countries to durably protect more than 350 million hectares of ocean, lands, and freshwater – an area similar in size to India. These agreements include Herencia Colombia, Eternal Mongolia, and the Great Bear Sea PFP. This success is built on local leadership, co-development and governance, and the support of an engaged global community that is committed to this innovative and proven sustainable finance approach.
