In many cultures, liminal deities preside over thresholds, gates, and portals. These beings endow transitions with a sense of the sacred. In the Hindu traditions of my Tamil ancestors, Ganesha is revered for auspicious new beginnings. He is in good company with other threshold deities like Munsin (Korea), Makiubaya (Ifugao people, Philippines), Môn Thần (Vietnam), and Welcome Figures from diverse First Nations in the Pacific Northwest. For ancient Romans, it was Janus, physically represented with two faces looking in opposite directions.
The turn of a new year invites Janus-like reflection on what has passed and what lies ahead. And so it is with the Hub on this threshold of both new leadership and a new year.
Our inaugural year of 2024 gave us much to celebrate:
However, sobering events like the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles certainly dent our hopes for the nature finance agenda. Grief for lives lost remains top of mind. We are also alert to the fact that rebuilding efforts will face the added headwind of a looming insurance crisis. Systemic factors certainly worsened the current calamity, and climate change contributed to increased fire risk across California. Coupled with a suppression of premiums, the result was a major pull back from insurance companies and serious overexposure for the state-backed insurer.
It is also deeply concerning that rebuilding efforts do not always engender equity. For instance, in Florida, hurricanes often lead to accelerated gentrification in desirable neighborhoods. Constructing homes in neighborhoods required to meet more robust fire code provisions can be nearly twice the regular price of construction. Other signals such as the retreat of major financial institutions from Diversity and Equity (DEI) and climate initiatives are equally worrying. Symbolic acts such as re-naming nature sites that had reverted back to Indigenous names from colonial ones are setting an unpleasant tone for Reconciliation.
For Canadians, this is not a ‘far-off’ problem that we can ignore. News and policy pundits alike point to similar issues of runaway costs for fire and flood-related insurance domestically. Meeting these challenges will require activating the whole nature finance ecosystem in Canada to retool and work smarter with approaches that we know can make a real difference like nature-based infrastructure and natural climate solutions.
In this context, we feel the urgency of our work and sharpen the strategic focus for the Hub. In 2025, we will advance two flagship initiatives:
In addition to continuing to support Indigenous-led organizations and our existing suite of partner-led projects, the Hub will also advance decision-making tools that increase capital allocation to nature. With support from Environment and Climate Change Canada, we will assess the feasibility of a matchmaking platform for proponents and investors in nature finance projects. We also will continue to benchmark progress through our annual investor survey on the State of Nature Finance in Canada.
At this time of many transitions, sharp strategy and a sense of the sacred drives our work. The promise of opportunities to scale nature finance has deepened our resolve to act in alignment with our partners, and respond to an appropriate level of urgency. We are following through on the Hub’s ambitious mandate to achieve a fivefold increase in nature finance.