Let’s lay the foundations for biodiversity finance! – international research starts with Corvinus

A joint project from the Institute of Finance at the Corvinus University of Budapest, in an eight-countries consortium, titled “BioSolar – Solar farms: an opportunity to recover biodiversity in farmlands”, has been shortlisted for funding under the prestigious Biodiversa+ (European Biodiversity Partnership) for a total amount of 1.7 million EUR. The proposal was one of 34 projects recommended for funding out of 183 submissions. This call, co-funded by the European Commission, seeks to explore synergies, trade-offs, and mechanisms that enhance the implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS). The BioSolar project stands out for its innovative approach to investigating how solar farms can simultaneously contribute to renewable energy generation and biodiversity conservation across Europe. 

International project success for the Sustainable Finance Research Centre 

This multidisciplinary research initiative is led by Prof. Francisco Tortosa from the University of Cordoba, Spain, and is coordinated at Corvinus by Dr. Helena Naffa, Director of the Sustainable Finance Research Centre. The project marks the first international successful grant for the Sustainable Finance Research Centre (SFRC), within the Institute of Finance. The project also brings together experts and researchers from eight countries: Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Canada, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, and Iceland, with expertise in ecology, environmental sociology, landscape management, economics, finance, and renewable energy. 

The BioSolar project aligns with the BiodivNBS call by exploring the synergies and trade-offs of nature-based solutions in the context of human well-being, and examining how NBS mitigates anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss. The project seeks to address one of Europe’s most pressing environmental issues: the degradation of biodiversity and the prospect for its restoration. Solar farms, integrated with biodiversity conservation strategies, represent an opportunity to transform these farmlands into sanctuaries for native flora and fauna. 

Along with evaluating the benefits of clean energy on biodiversity conservation, the BioSolar project aims to develop Science-Based Biodiversity guidelines to measure biodiversity goals, and integrate Biodiversity into Financial Decision-Making, thus bridging the biodiversity funding gap and contributing to the foundations of the novel discipline of Biodiversity Finance. The project will analyse the embedded value in NbS and engineer innovative funding mechanisms tailored to the specific needs of biodiversity projects. These include implementing flexible approaches for managing cash flows, timing (such as the option to delay projects to facilitate nature recovery), and risk mitigation strategies throughout the investment value chain. In addition, the project will explore specifically how financial instruments like biodiversity credits, green bonds, and sustainability-linked investments can be integrated into solar park development.  

The project’s working packages related to integrating biodiversity into Financial Decision-Making and the multidisciplinary approach to the economy, energy, and environment will be led by Dr. Helena Naffa and her team at Corvinus (Zsuzsa Huszar, Leyla Yusifzada, Peter Csoka, Peter Juhasz, Admilson Veloso da Silva). The proposal writing was supported by Dr. Krisztina Hollósi, Senior Research Funding Advisor at ERGO (European Research Grant Office, Corvinus University of Budapest), data officer Erika Kurucz, and a PhD student Xingling Li. 

The final results of the BiodivNBS call will be announced in November 2024, marking an important step in revolutioning financial engineering within the biodiversity space to secure sustainable energy sources and biodiversity conservation in Europe.