Mirova Foundation, the endowment fund of Mirova, a mission-driven company specialising in sustainable finance, is launching a call for projects aimed at organisations eligible for sponsorship in the area of biodiversity preservation and restoration: ‘Stepping up on behalf of the living world: Preserving forests and transforming farming practices.’
Faced with the erosion of biodiversity and the acceleration of global warming, it is crucial that we rethink our relationship with the living world. According to the IPBES, one million animal and plant species (of an estimated 8 million total) could disappear from the Earth in the coming decades, and forests are home to more than half of the Earth’s animal and plant diversity. At the same time, sustainable food production is a major challenge both for human health and the environment, calling into question the sustainability of our agricultural models.
In 2022, France lost 60,000 hectares of forest, particularly due the mega-fires in Gironde last summer and again a few days ago in Cerbère. Currently, the French government is undertaking to prevent fires. The droughts of last summer and this winter are a threat to French agriculture. At its own level, the Mirova Foundation wants to play a part in driving momentum for a structural transformation in the management of forests and agriculture.
Launched on 25 May 2023, Mirova Foundation’s call for projects seeks to boost initiatives that have a positive impact on forests and their ecosystems, or those shifting farming practices towards regenerative agriculture. Mirova Foundation supports public-interest organisations at a pivotal stage: at start-up or when scaling up. The total budget earmarked for this call for projects is €450,000, which will be used to support 2 to 3 project leaders over 3 years.
As well as providing long-term, structured funding, Mirova Foundation is providing each grantee individual, bespoke support to establish healthy conditions for a long-term, human partnership with the project leaders.
This involves regular exchanges, field visits and networking, as well as the flexibility to freely allocate the financial donation according to the needs of the organisation or the project(s) underway. Convinced that project sponsors are the parties most competent to determine the effective use of funds granted them, Mirova Foundation wishes to help them build a relationship of trust and provide the means to match their actions with their needs as effectively as possible.
This support has three components:
Financial sponsorship
Mirova Foundation will provide funding of €50,000 to €100,000 per year. The amount requested for an organization or project as a whole should come to between €150,000 and €300,000, spread over a maximum of three years between 2023 and 2025. The impact reference framework is to be drawn up with the Endowment Fund team at the start of the partnership, with three-year objectives broken down by year. An annual interim report will be requested , based on the impact framework and assessed with the Endowment Fund team, to help projects adjust their objectives if necessary, according to their circumstances.
Skills sponsorship
Mirova Foundation will be in a position to make available the expertise and skills of volunteer employees from Mirova according to the technical needs identified by the grantee organisations. Mirova Foundation can assist the prize-winners in measuring their impact, strengthening their model, seeking funding and in honing their communication methods to give every participant the tools they need to roll out their project.
Promotion, visibility and networking
The aim is to provide the best possible support for the projects we support and to highlight them through awareness-raising, information and advocacy. Whenever possible, Mirova Foundation also acts as a sounding board for project leaders, the causes they defend and the solutions they propose.