We would like to acknowledge and express our appreciation for the considerable effort by numerous role players over the last few years that has resulted in this much needed injection of funding into the biodiversity sector.

вЂњAs South Africa we are excited to be at the forefront of an innovative new financial instrument aimed at boosting our efforts to protect the worldвЂ™s largest rhino population. However, black rhinos are critically endangered mainly due to poaching and habitat loss. This ecosystem contributes to South AfricaвЂ™s national economy through tourism, job creation, and as an important source of foreign exchange. Rhino protection helps other species that share their habitat. вЂњThe GEFвЂ™s financial backing for this bond gave it the risk/return profile that investors needed to enter the biodiversity space, and I am confident that their engagement will only grow from here, with future conservation bonds that benefit other umbrella species and their ecosystems.вЂќ This is a great example of how capital markets can meet both investor and conservation priorities,вЂќ said Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, GEF CEO and Chairperson. вЂњThis innovative conservation bond, which the Global Environment Facility is delighted to support, opens a new avenue for financing biodiversity protection at a critically important time. Liberatore, Head of ESG/Impact вЂ“ Global Fixed Income at Nuveen. We are especially hopeful that this type of public-private partnership can serve as a template for future transactions to help improve biodiversity globally,вЂќВ said Stephen M. вЂњWe are proud to be the lead investor in this innovative transaction that provided not only attractive total return potential, but also the direct and measurable outcomes we look for under our proprietary Impact Framework. Credit Suisse was the sole structurer and joint bookrunner with Citibank. This represents a new approach in conservation financing that passes project risks to capital market investors and allows donors to pay for conservation outcomes. If successful, as measured by the rhino growth rate independently calculated by Conservation Alpha and verified by the Zoological Society of London, investors will receive a success payment at maturity, paid by the IBRD with funds provided by a performance-based grant from the GEF, in addition to principal redemption of the bond. Instead, the issuer will make conservation investment payments to finance rhino conservation activities at the two parks. Investors in the WCB will not receive coupon payments on the bond. Importantly, it can be replicated and scaled to channel more private capital for other conservation and climate actions and development objectives around the world.вЂќ

вЂњThe pay-for-success financial structure protects an endangered species and strengthens South AfricaвЂ™s conservation efforts by leveraging the World BankвЂ™s infrastructure and track record in capital markets. вЂњThe Rhino Bond is a groundbreaking approach to enabling private sector investment in global public goods - in this case biodiversity conservation, a key global development challenge,вЂќ said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

Through the WCB, investors are supporting the financing of activities to protect and grow a critically endangered species with clear conservation targets, contributing directly to biodiversity, and bringing jobs to local communities through the creation of conservation-related employment in a rural and underserved region of South Africa. Rhinos are considered an umbrella species that play a crucial role in shaping entire ecosystems on which countless other species depend. The WCB is a first-of-its-kind, outcome-based, financial instrument that channels investments to achieve conservation outcomes вЂ“ measured in this case by an increase in black rhino populations. Also known as the вЂњRhino Bond,вЂќ this five-year $150 million Sustainable Development Bond includes a potential performance payment from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which will contribute to protecting and increasing black rhino populations in two protected areas in South Africa, the Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) and the Great Fish River Nature Reserve (GFRNR).В AENP is managed by the South African National Parks (SANParks) and GFRNR is managed by Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA). PRETORIA, March 23, 2022- The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD) today priced the Wildlife Conservation Bond (WCB) in support of South AfricaвЂ™s efforts to conserve endangered species.

South central black rhinoceros