Luxury fashion firm Kering, has collaborated with multinational beauty firm L’Occitane Group, to launch a €300 million (US$316m) Climate Fund for Nature.

With a focus on empowering women, the ambitious Climate Fund for Nature will mobilize funding from the high-end fashion and beauty industries to conserve and restore nature.

Out of the $300 million goal, €140 million has already been pledged, and the cash will be available to new partner businesses to promote the expansion of its beneficial effects locally. The fund will be run by Mirova, a Natixis Investment Managers affiliate wholly focused on sustainable investing.

The need to scale-up funding and investment in nature-based solutions is widely regarded as crucial as nations and businesses increase their efforts to combat the climate and biodiversity challenges. The companies propose that investments in nature-based solutions should at least triple by 2030 and expand fourfold by 20502 if the world is to reach its targets for addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation.

The KERING-initiated and -supported Climate Fund for Nature will contribute a sizable sum of money to the preservation and repair of nature. Out of a target of 300 million euros, it combines ambitious promises totaling 140 million euros, and it will rely on Mirova's established track record of managing natural capital funds.

Beginning in Q1 2023, the fund vehicle will begin operating. The fund's goal is to provide funding for high-caliber initiatives that promote the preservation and restoration of nature. It will also assist farmers in adopting regenerative farming techniques, provide carbon credits, and create co-benefits for the local communities, with a focus on empowering women.

Most eligible projects will be located in nations where the investors obtain their primary raw materials. The projects' development will be watched to make sure they produce quantifiable results for the environment, the climate, and human livelihoods.

The financed projects must also make a major contribution to women's empowerment by filling in the gaps now present in access to financing, land, and training.

Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer of Kering, said that the Climate Fund for Nature presents an opportunity for the Luxury Fashion and Beauty industries to collectively support biodiversity restoration and conservation at scale. The L'Occitane Group is the fund's first partner, and Kering is pleased to work with Mirova. If we want to stop the loss of biodiversity by 2030 and solve climate change, which is inextricably related to nature, we need innovative financing systems to direct much-needed funding toward solutions based on the natural world. They implore additional businesses to join this bold initiative to help ensure the future of wildlife.

Adrien Geiger, Chief Sustainability Officer of L’Occitane Group and Managing Director of L’Occitane en Provence, added that with the planet facing a global climate and biodiversity crisis they have never seen before, L'Occitane Group is proud to partner with Kering and Mirova to scale-up its action against the degradation of nature, which provides the very resources and services we depend on. While decreasing their emissions and impacts is their top focus, the Climate Fund for Wildlife will enable them to make even greater strides by funding initiatives that support regenerative practices that benefit both communities and nature.