Encourage Capital

Encourage Capital is a new kind of investment firm that seeks to change the way investment capital is used to solve critical environmental and social problems. We are building a community of investors, foundations, market-leading companies and non-profits to deploy private capital into systemic solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. We believe we can generate both compelling investment returns and social and environmental impacts for our investors. The impacts from climate change are already having far-reaching, and perhaps disastrous effects, on natural ecosystems and human livelihoods. Encourage Capital believes that the capital markets must play a critical role in providing incentives for both reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon in biological systems such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, and agricultural systems. Encourage Capital invests in and is designing ecosystem-based investment strategies to address global climate change. Encourage Capital believes that investing in projects focused on the conservation, restoration and improved management of biological systems — such as forests — is one of the most reliable and most cost-effective ways to address climate change. Such projects also provide co-benefits such as healthier ecosystems that support biodiversity, sustainable wildlife habitat and fresh water. Encourage Capital has become a leader in financing ecosystem-based carbon offset projects that develop carbon credits for the California carbon market. Our EKO Green Carbon Fund invests in projects that rely on changes in forest management practices that are designed to preserve more carbon. We are also developing investment strategies to support “REDD” projects, which are aimed at reducing tropical deforestation and forest degradation.