Supporting global climate leaders through the Plan Vivo Accelerator
Our Nature-based Solutions team is proud to be partnering with the Plan Vivo Foundation (Edinburgh, Scotland) as part of its global Nature Carbon Project Accelerator Programme.
Through this initiative, Ekos is providing business coaching to nature carbon project developers across the world, including projects in The Gambia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mexico, Honduras, Malawi, Rwanda, and Ghana. These projects are working at the forefront of community-led conservation and climate action, and the programme is designed to support them in becoming investment-ready and commercially viable.
This work is led by our CEO, Sean Weaver, who is supporting project developers to strengthen the business foundations of their initiatives. His coaching focuses on bridging the gap between environmental ambition and financial sustainability, including:
• Integrating nature carbon accounting with financial modelling
• Developing project financing strategies
• Planning for carbon credit monetisation
• Building robust business plans
• Preparing compelling funding and investment pitches
As Sean explains:
“When community organisations seek to finance their nature conservation dreams through carbon markets they need to become a social enterprise - in other words a commercial business that trades in a market” Weaver said. "This can be daunting for people that may have little or no experience in the commercial world. Our guidance and support is helping these project developers to navigate this business territory in a manner that preserves their community values so that the never lose sight or control of the original reason to do this important work for people and planet.”
Real-world impact: Ethiopia (OSSREA)
One example of this work in action is with OSSREA in Ethiopia, a project focused on supporting women coffee producers through sustainable land management and carbon finance.
Reflecting on their experience in the programme, OSSREA shared:
“Working with Ekos through the Plan Vivo Accelerator Programme has helped OSSREA move from a strong project concept to a more commercially and financially realistic carbon project. Ekos has supported us to better understand the long-term financial requirements of a Plan Vivo project, including financial modelling, the pre-revenue period, price volatility, business plan and the distinction between seed funding and future carbon revenue. This support is very important for our project because it strengthens our ability to design a fair, transparent, and sustainable carbon finance model that benefits women coffee producers while also giving confidence to future buyers, investors, and partners.”
Looking ahead
By supporting project developers to build financially resilient, community-led carbon projects, this partnership is helping to unlock climate solutions that deliver both environmental and social impact at scale.
