Financing restorative economies in Aotearoa New Zealand’s marine and coastal space

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This research provides an impact investment framework to enable economic mechanisms for restoration of coastal and marine environments at the seascape level to emerge.

• Investors see investment opportunities when projects are beyond pilot and testing stages, and a pathway to scaling up and/or replicating successful projects is evident.
• Projects in a restorative marine economy, individually or as an aggregated portfolio, need a clear investment risk profile and the ability to generate financial and non-financial returns.
• The ability to operate in a sustainable and favourable environment where consumers and taxpayers value the natural and socio-economic environment is essential.
• Gaps and barriers for further investor engagement with conservation and restoration projects include the need for clear standards for natural and social capital valuation, natural capital accounting and impact metrics.
• An ability to generate and capture revenue, as the means to finance restoration, is a relatively new approach in New Zealand that needs further development; some of the ideas captured include multispecies aquaculture and blue carbon sequestration.