Request for Applications: Technical Assistance and Capital Acceleration Providers

Duration of application period: Starting 3 May 2024 and ending 3 June 2024, 17:00 ET 

Introduction

The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is a coalition between United Nations agencies, Member States, financial institutions, and private philanthropy sources, to catalyze financial resources towards the benefit of coral reef resilience and related coastal community and ecosystem benefits. The GFCR supports a range of programs, business models, and financial instruments that can sustainably finance key conservation and development goals for coral reefs. Technical assistance, capacity development, monitoring, and evaluation are provided via the UN-managed grant fund, complementing and boosting the impact potential of the investments made by a private equity fund managed by Pegasus Capital Advisors (PCA). For detailed information, please see the Terms of Reference and Theory of Change on the Resources page of the website. 

GFCR’s ‘reef-positive businesses’ include businesses that address local drivers of coral reef degradation while providing sustainable benefits for local communities. GFCR’s portfolio of reef-positive businesses encompasses the following sectors:

• Sustainable Ocean Production: Refers to projects and initiatives that promote environmentally responsible fishing and aquaculture practices aimed at reducing pressure on coral reefs. This includes projects focused on the development of marine protected areas, improved fish stock management, and measures to minimize bycatch.
• Sustainable Coastal Development: Pertains to projects that encourage sustainable ecotourism practices, coastal infrastructure, and coral restoration revenue models. These businesses are designed to benefit local communities while reducing pressure on coral reefs. 
• Circular Economy and Pollution Management: Involves projects that promote sustainable infrastructure and waste management to reduce pollution and sedimentation adversely affecting coral reefs. This includes efforts to establish wastewater treatment plants, enhance solid waste management, and reduce the use of plastics.

Supported businesses strive to operate in adherence to the GFCR Investment Principles. 

Objectives of the RFA & Deliverables

​​The GFCR has launched a Request for Applications (RFA) to invite non-for-profit organisations to submit applications to support reef-positive businesses through tailored technical assistance (TA) and/or concessional finance (i.e., loans, equity, guarantees). The RFA serves to identify qualified non-profit organisations that can provide and/or coordinate one or both of the following for the investees of the GFCR: 

• GFCR Flexible Technical Assistance: Targeted support for businesses and/or its associated value chain and ecosystem actors, either pre- or post-investment, focused on increasing its social and environmental development impact and financial viability in support of an integrated ecosystem approach for coral reef protection and climate resilience.
• GFCR Capital Acceleration: The provision of concessional loans, equity, or guarantees to strengthen credit history and de-risk private sector investment into innovative reef-positive businesses, including supporting network of SMEs to the GFCRs Investment Fund investments.

These two modalities address GFCR’s need for nimble, flexible and adaptable support for individual investments and ecosystem interventions, while ensuring they meet the GFCR’s Investment Principles, safeguards, risk management, and gender standards. Together, these modalities aim to catalyze investments to benefit ocean conservation, foster sustainable reef-positive initiatives, and serve as a valuable model for impact investors looking to promote environmental and social gains in complex and interconnected industrial and marine ecosystems.

To view full details, please read Request for Applications Overview & Guidance.

Update 10 May 2024: Kindly be advised that the Request for Applications Overview & Guidance document has been updated with new links for your reference.

Eligibility

Applications are open to non-profit organizations, including non-governmental (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). Applicants must have the capacity to plan, procure, coordinate and project manage, and in some cases implement technical assistance and/or concessional finance (loans, equity, and guarantees) for for-profit reef-positive businesses, projects, and programs.

Submission Instructions 

Download the Request for Applications (RFA): GFCR Technical Assistance and Capital Acceleration Providers Template.

Please submit this completed document, along with further details, by 3 June 2024, 17:00 ET via: https://forms.gle/DdbciaNbSi9FTeks6. Any questions on the RFA process can be sent to [email protected].