MoMo4C: nature-based solutions and climate-resilient landscapes

Mobilising More for Climate (MoMo4C) aims to develop nature-based solutions and biodiverse, climate-resilient landscapes. The programme, funded the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focuses on creating business cases to attract public, philanthropic and private finance, targeting sectors like agri-food, biodiversity, water forestry and landscape regeneration. Rural communities and local CSOs are the driving force. Originally running from 2019 through 2024, MoMo4C will continue to strengthen its impact in 2025.

Header photo: honey business in Uganda. © Fanny Verkuijlen / IUCN NL

Implemented by IUCN NL, Tropenbos International and WWF-NL, MoMo4C operates in six landscapes in Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, Indonesia and Zambia. Following a successful end-review and a one-year extension through 2025, the programme is looking forward to strengthening its approaches and impact. At the same time, it will expand its horizon through new landscapes.

Business case development

MoMo4C is a pioneering initiative integrating landscape and inclusive governance approaches to develop early-stage, small-to-medium ticket business cases in rural and underdeveloped areas. Currently, it includes business cases and investments worth up to 10 million USD.

Our programme provides technical assistance and some seed funding, supports business case development for investment and works on harvesting lessons. Moreover, we focus on enablers for business in policy and regulation level.

We work in landscapes that face severe deforestation, ecosystem degradation and weak governance, making them vulnerable to climate change impacts. Indigenous and other rural communities are hit hardest by these impacts, while contributing least to their underlying drivers. Under MoMo4C they have a seat on the table to develop solutions benefitting nature and people. In each landscape, women and youth play a central role.

We currently work in the following landscapes:

• Ghana: Mole Ecological Landscape (MEL) and Juabeso-Bia and Sefwi-Wiawso (JBSW)
• Uganda: Murchison-Eastern Albertine Rift
• Cameroon: Tri-National Dja-Odzala-Minkébé (TRIDOM)
• Indonesia: Ketapang and Kayong Utara District (K-KU)
• Zambia: Zambezi River Delta Landscape

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Successes to date

MoMo4C has successfully used an integrated landscape approach, engaging important stakeholders to define and design a future proof landscape vision and strategy. In each landscape, this approach was translated into the search for and development of nature and climate projects that have the potential to grow into a business case. It has led to investments in nature-based solutions and projects contributing to nature and climate through nature-positive value chains with premium agroforestry products and waste-to-energy solutions.

• Relevance and coherence: A recent review shows that the program aligns with local and international stakeholders’ needs and policies.
• Innovation:  It brings together relevant public, private and CSO actors in landscape partnerships that define shared ambitions and strategies. These partnerships jointly develop innovative finance solutions for projects that contribute to climate resilience and the protection, regeneration and sustainable development of nature.
• Financial mobilisation: Raised 17 million euro, mostly in private finance for a range of small to large scale initiatives. In addition, it develops  a deal book with twelve business cases that work towards bankability with ticket sizes between one to 10 million USD.
• Local implementers: MoMo4C gives space to critical actors in the most vulnerable, biodiverse landscapes to work with government and private sector agencies on inclusive enabling environments. Together, they influence and capitalize on new or improved policies and solutions for profitable, locally led projects and business ventures
• Sustainability: being locally led, supported by local multistakeholder involvement, and contributing to a joint vision, the initiatives supported are more likely to sustain themselves, also after MoMo4C withdraws its support.

Challenges

Despite its achievements, MoMo4C continues to be challenged in attracting investments for a variety of projects and their scaling.

• Access to finance: Difficulty in developing business cases to engage financial institutions and access private finance. In some cases, small size initiatives with a lack of track record and proven concept experience reluctance of investors, because risk-return profiles are too high.
• Market access: Poor access to responsible buyers prepared to pay a fair price.  as well as market access for only a limited number of products, often making producers dependent on one single off-taker.
• Impact assessment: Initiatives need time to show their impact and in addition often lack the data to show impact in a way consistent with the expectations of the private and financial sectors.

Way forward

To continue supporting business cases that provide innovative solutions to the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, technical assistance remains relevant. In addition, our experience shows the urgent need for local, landscape level funds, that can provide small grants and concessional loans to finance the early-stage development of business cases with positive impacts on nature and climate.

MoMo4C is creating multilevel partnerships that will allow us to link business case development to such seed capital facilities and, in a later stage, commercial private finance. This will enable scaling up within current landscapes and to new landscapes.

We will also move forward to the next phase of creating business cases strengthening agroforestry projects. Value is created for premium forest products and investments are generated within the value chain through the involvement of off-take companies.