Mitigating biodiversity & social impacts of nearshore wind farm projects

In 2019, Climate Investor 1 (CI1), a blended finance facility managed by Climate Fund Managers (CFM), financed the construction of two nearshore wind farm projects located in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Despite clear benefits for communities from improved access to renewable energy, these large-scale infrastructure projects often come also with adverse biodiversity and social impacts. To mitigate these impacts, several initiatives were put in place. First, the two projects applied the Sustainable Blue Economy (SBE) Finance Principles as a lens through which to view and measure impact across the lifetime of the project (both construction and operation). These Principles also served to shape a programme of activities and were embedded in the ongoing management. To address social dimensions, CFM also put in place a Community Development Programme to lay the foundations for improving well-being and resilience to future climate and economic shocks. Finally, an International Finance Corporation-compliant Livelihood Restoration Programme (LRP) has been developed for each project to ensure the livelihood protection of all project-affected communities.