Private sector platform promotes discussions on financing impact businesses in the Amazon
In November, the Partnership Platform for the Amazon (PPA) launched a campaign named "Caminhos para a Amazônia" (Amazon Pathways), to strengthen the impact business ecosystem.
Along with the campaign, a study named "PPA Acceleration Thesis" was released. The study was conducted in partnership with Quintessa, an impact accelerator with more than 10 years of experience in the area. It maps a number of initiatives that support socio-environmental businesses and highlights new acceleration opportunities.
The PPA includes four thematic groups — entrepreneurship, bioeconomy, markets, and territories. It seeks to leverage social and environmental investment, foster the development of transformative partnerships, share best practices, and create a collaborative environment for problem solving challenges in the Amazon.
“Acceleration programs create favorable environments for entrepreneurs, and support their development. We want to embrace different types of impact businesses in the Amazon, seeking links with local issues and offering support to a wide spectrum of initiatives and solutions that already exist in the Amazon,” says Augusto Corrêa, executive secretary of the PPA.
For Carolina Ochoa Koepke, project coordinator at Quintessa, the Acceleration Thesis provides effective guidance to the socio-environmental business agenda in the Amazon. “Working collaboratively with experts in the field, we identified key themes connected to biodiversity conservation and trends in the Amazon in the areas of bioeconomy, forest restoration/regeneration, carbon/climate and sustainable supply chains. Building on this, four acceleration lines have been proposed: for businesses (1) in the early stages, (2) in mature stages, (3) linked to forest restoration/regeneration, and (4) undertaken by local and community populations,” she explains.
The Amazon needs new economic solutions to contain deforestation pressures and improve the quality of life of its more than 25 million inhabitants.
Since its foundation in 2017, the PPA has supported different initiatives aimed at the development of entrepreneurs and businesses. Actions range from the promotion of new funding mechanisms for socio-environmental businesses (which are overlooked in traditional finance), to acceleration programs that develop specific support methodologies for these enterprises.
In November and December, several activities are scheduled to provide analysis on impact businesses in the Amazon. In addition to events, interviews, and podcasts, PPA will host a virtual workshop for private sector representatives interested in contributing to this agenda.
Learn more about Quintessa — As an ecosystem of entrepreneurial and innovative solutions for the country's social and environmental challenges, Quintessa has worked since 2009 to promote strategic integration between positive impacts and financial results.
The organization works with impact business entrepreneurs, large companies, investors, institutes, and foundations to promote innovation, positive impacts, and ESG agendas. Quintessa has identified and mapped over 5,000 startups, boosted more than 250 outstanding impact startups. Their focus is in education, health, environment, sustainable cities, and inclusion.
More information on the Amazon Pathways campaign is available here.