Sustainable Investment Management

A boutique environmental finance firm based in the UK and Brazil

With investment from Santander, Rabobank, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and AGRI3, the RCF has enabled the production of an additional 180,000+ tons of responsible soy, free from deforestation and conversion. Read the Annual Report

Sustainable Investment Management Ltd (SIM) is an environmental finance advisory firm.

Our objective is to promote the financing of activities that result in positive environmental impacts worldwide.

SIM coordinates the blending and integration of sources of finance, services and activities related to its investments.

SIM uses a combination of:

  • Sophisticated financial mechanisms.
  • Advanced technology tools (including remote sensing and blockchain technology).
  • An experienced team of experts and associates in environmental finance, carbon trading, commercial law, and environmental sciences.

Vision

At SIM, we have witnessed first hand the immense potential of combining private and public capital toward achieving targeted environmental goals. We also know from experience that pursuing “green” investments and seeking attractive financial returns are not mutually exclusive.

Our vision is to create a double bottom-line global investment firm to mobilize capital for actionable sustainable development. We do this by connecting investors seeking positive environmental change with credible businesses and implementable projects that have a direct and immediate environmental impact.

Our aim is that our financial mechanisms can have a disruptive effect at scale, helping to inflict change at sector or landscape level.

SIM is engaging with businesses and projects across various sectors, as follows:

Sustainable Agriculture

Promoting farming practices and methods that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities, (such as zero deforestation and recycling of crop waste and livestock).

SIM designed and manages the Responsible Commodities Facility, a programme to provide financial incentives to soy farmers committed to zero deforestation in Brazil.

Sustainable Forest and Conservation Finance

Providing finance to support sustainable forestry practices and forest conservation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity.

SIM designed and manages the SIMFlor programme, to provide financial incentives for landowners to comply with the Brazilian Forest Code.

Greenhouse Gases (GHG)

Reducing the emissions of GHGs, help offset carbon footprints and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

To promote this agenda, SIM acquired a significant stake in ecosecurities, a market leader in carbon markets, founded by SIM CEO Pedro Moura Costa.

Waste Management and the Circular Economy

Promoting the use of proper and sustainable solid waste management solutions, including the plastics recycling.

To promote this agenda, SIM developed Circular Action BV, a new venture dedicated to developing circular economy solutions in developing countries.

We also work in partnership with BVRio, a not-for-profit organisation designing and promoting innovative market-based solutions for the green economy, which has a presence in Brazil, UK, the Netherlands, Indonesia and China.

The Team

Pedro Moura Costa

CEO, UK

Over 25 years experience in the forestry, climate and environment sector, co-founder and director of BVRio Environmental Exchange, co-founder and former President of EcoSecurities Group Plc., the world leader in greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon trading, listed in the London AIM stock exchange; author of >100 publications including IPCC reports recognised with 2007 Nobel Peace Prize; PhD from University of London.

Mauricio Moura Costa

COO, BRAZIL

Over 25 years of experience in commercial and financial law, M&A, banking and finance, capital markets and general contracting. Co-founder and director of BVRio Environmental Exchange. Formerly, country director of EcoSecurities Group Plc. Brazil and managing partner of international law firms in Brazil (São Paulo) and Portugal (Lisbon). Doctor in Economic Law from Université de Paris II (Panthéon-Sorbonne).

Steven Ripley

DIRECTOR, INVESTOR ENGAGEMENT

Steven has spent his entire professional career (20+ years) working towards creating value for forests. He’s held positions with the United Nations, Global Canopy, IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative and Tesco, as well as a decade working for software firms developing commodity traceability systems. Steven holds a Masters in International Environmental Law and a Bachelors in Environmental Science.

Foto da Grace com árvores ao fundo

Grace Blackham

HEAD OF COMPLIANCE

Over 15 years of experience in tropical ecology, project management, and sustainable land use practices and policy. Grace has a MSc from Oxford Brookes University and a PhD in Tropical Forest Ecology from the National University of Singapore. She has worked on a variety of land use and forestry projects in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Associates

Beto Mesquita

EAB Secretariat

 

An experienced forest engineer, Beto is a Doctor of Environmental and Forestry Sciences and Director of Policies and Institutional Relations for BVRio. He is responsible for projects, partnerships, and represents institutions in various forums in the areas of forest, sustainable production and public policies.

Theresa Rocco

Geospatial Analyst

Theresa is experienced in Spatial Data Analytics and Mapping – Modelling of Tropical Natural Resources and Land Cover. She is a geologist, and has a MSc from Santa Maria Federal University in Soil Science and a MBA in Progress in Data Science and Analytics from Esalq-USP. 

Francisco Godoy

Environmental Assets Analyst

Francisco has almost a decade of experience in forest law, working as a geographer. His expertise includes analysing deforestation, remote sensing, a broad knowledge of the Brazilian Forest Code, and mastering its databases. Alongside his role  he  is also currently pursuing a master’s degree in Geography at PUC-Rio.

Lucy Cox

International Communications

Lucy has over 20 years corporate communications and Public Relations experience latterly within the environment sector. Lucy is responsible for SIM communication channels and activities and is the media contact.

Ludmila Girardi

Brazil Communications

Ludmila is a journalist with MBA in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Human Geography focusing on Environmental Policy, Sustainable Food Systems and Cartography. She has experience working within the Brazilian government, publishing, research and charitable sectors.

Daniela Pires e Albuquerque

Legal Manager

Daniela is a lawyer with over 28 years of experience in environmental law, administrative law, public law, and environmental management. She has worked with various public and private entities in the environmental sector. At SIM, she uses her expertise to analyse landowners’ and rural producers’ compliance with Brazilian laws, standards, and regulations, conducting due diligence to assess risks prior to negotiations or contracts.

Huoyun Li

Financial Controller

Huoyun is responsible for maintaining the financial systems and controls for SIM. She has dual-qualification in engineering science and accountancy (ACCA) and previously she worked in climate change business, specialising in GHG MVR under various schemes.

Uriel Bertoche

IT Manager

Uriel has 15 years of experience in systems analysis and development, with a focus on web-facing systems. He is, responsible for translating business demands into IT systems, ensuring rapid implementations and deployments, in addition to maintaining the stability of all associated systems and infrastructures.

Latest news

Job Vacancy: Environmental Analyst

April 10, 2024 No Comments

Job Vacancy: Environmental Analyst, Responsible Commodities FacilityWorking Location: Oxford, UKSalary: up to £38,000pa reflecting experience   Context Growing demand for soy globally is resulting in a

Read More »

Policies

Sustainability Policy
 
SIM’s Sustainability Policy has the objective of enhancing the environmental and social sustainability of the programmes and activities implemented by SIM through the application of robust environmental and social risk management standards.
 
Concerns and Grievances
 
Concerns and grievances can be submitted to canal.etica@sim.finance . The SIM Ethics Committee, composed of the CEO, the Director of ESG and Compliance, and the Legal Manager of BVRio, is responsible dealing with any submissions. Once received, the committee will meet within a maximum period of 10 (ten) days to deal with the incident.

Any complaints received will be treated as a priority, always ensuring due confidentiality of the facts reported and of the complainant.

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Eligibility Criteria for Cerrado Programme 1

The following eligibility criteria are required for participation in the Responsible Commodities Facility for Cerrado Programme 1 (see full description here):

Land use

The area of cultivation must not have had any deforestation and conversion of native vegetation since 1 Jan 2020*. Preference will be given to areas converted from abandoned pasture land to soy cultivation after 2008.

Forest Code Compliance

Farm land must be registered with the Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR). The farm must contain and maintain areas of native vegetation equivalent to those required for Legal Reserve and Areas of Permanent Protection (APPs) determined by the Forest code or have formally adhered to a Programme of Environmental Regularization (PRA) established by the state environmental agency**. The farm area must not overlap with public protected areas, indigenous lands and other traditional people and community lands (including ‘quilombolas territories’).

Land title

Farmers must have unquestionable right to use the land, be it as land title, land lease agreement, or another legally recognised form of land tenure (e.g., ‘posse’)

Legal Compliance

Farmers must demonstrate that they and their farms do not contravene any environmental or legal requirements, such as embargoes, environmental irregularities, contraventions of the labour legislation (including slave and child labour), non-compliance with the Soy Moratorium (if applicable), and internationally-accepted rules for the use of agrochemicals.

*Farmers occasionally request the conversion of small areas of native vegetation to conduct farm improvements (building storage areas, water reservoirs, etc.). Provided that these areas are small and not for the purpose of expansion of the agricultural area, RCF analyses and considers them eligible. In order to do so, RCF uses the concept of Minimal Level (of deforestation or conversion) as defined by the Accountability Framework Initiative Terms and Definitions, which states “To be considered consistent with no-deforestation or no-conversion commitments, minimal levels must generally meet the following conditions: Not exceed cumulative thresholds that are small both in absolute terms (e.g., no more than a few hectares) and relative to the area in question (e.g., no more than a small proportion of the site).”

**The RCF analyses Forest Code compliance by looking at single farms (defined as the area covered by a CAR) or bundles of individual CARs that, in combination, result in the desired area of native vegetation put under the protective status of the RCF.  This bundling should not be understood as a means of compliance with the Forest Code requirements and is not intended to release the farmer of the regularization process committed under the Forest Code rules (enrolment in the CAR, engagement in a PRA, etc.). In order to differentiate its metrics from those of the Forest Code, the RCF refers to areas of Excess Native Vegetation (ENV) as opposed to Excess Legal Reserve, to avoid confusion with areas legally categorised under the Forest Code.