Coastal Resilience, Carbon, and Conservation Finance (C3F)

Coastal resilience and blue carbon present significant opportunities for achieving USAID’s high-level climate goals, including attracting $150 billion in public and private capital to climate finance; improving the climate resilience of 500 million people; and reducing, avoiding, or sequestering six GtCO2e in partner countries by 2030. Sustainable management of coastal, marine, and freshwater resources is also critical to biodiversity conservation and development goals such as improved livelihoods and food security. However, despite strong demand signals, the supply of blue carbon projects remains scarce and most coastal wetland interventions have relied on grant capital. 

To overcome these barriers, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Climate Finance for Development Accelerator (CFDA) launched the Coastal Resilience, Carbon, and Conservation Finance (C3F) activity. C3F encourages the flow of private capital into coastal resilience and blue carbon projects that generate biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation, and adaptation outcomes while safeguarding local communities’ benefits. USAID has partnered with the Ocean Risk and Resilience Alliance (ORRAA) to identify and engage stakeholders in the countries where USAID works, building their capacity to develop bankable, climate-positive projects and address information asymmetries between communities and investors – leading to investments that safeguard local resources and livelihoods. Under C3F, ORRAA will also cultivate a community of blue carbon and coastal resilience experts to share knowledge and strengthen the global understanding of best practices in these sectors. 

C3F is an activity under USAID’s Climate Finance for Development Accelerator (CFDA), USAID’s flagship initiative to increase climate investment in emerging markets and developing economies.