Geoforum | VOL. 120
Read
Fixing fictions through blended finance: The entrepreneurial ensemble and risk interpretation in the Blue Economy
Abstract
Abstract The notion of blended finance has increasingly gained traction within development policy as a way to fill a series of “financing gaps” related to the Sustainable Development Goals. Recently, blended finance has received increased attention as a way to create biodiversity markets and attract private capital. Building on qualitative research on efforts to create markets for private investments in marine conservation, this paper analyses how an ensemble of non-governmental organisations, development finance institutions and philanthropists seek to fill the financing gap for marine conservation in the “Blue Economy” by using blended finance as a guiding principle. I argue that by offsetting the uncertainties related to investing in a new conservation finance space, blended finance is applied as a way to fix investors’ fictional expectations and gradually transform uncertainty into risk. In doing so, this paper contributes to the literature on for-profit biodiversity conservation by highlighting how capital's risk interpretations are constitutive of the effort to create new markets. While blended finance is applied to create new markets from below, I discuss two other possible futures that might emerge as blended finance is applied in this new frontier. On the one hand, it risks becoming a development rent that is captured by the financial sector. On the other hand, blended finance can become a technical solution that enables the maintenance of a primordial faith in market-based environmental governance.
Round-ups are the summaries of handpicked papers around trending topics published every week. These would enable you to scan through a collection of papers and decide if the paper is relevant to you before actually investing time into reading it.
Climate change Research Articles published between Aug 08, 2022 to Aug 14, 2022
Introduction: There is no consensus on the policies that should be seen as implicitly pricing carbon (see World Bank (2019a) for a discussion). The OE...
Read MoreGender Equality Research Articles published between Aug 08, 2022 to Aug 14, 2022
I would like to thank Anna Khakee, Federica Zardo and Ragnar Weilandt for their very useful comments as well as the participants of the workshop of 21...
Read MoreDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on “as is” basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The Copyright Law.