Simpson Thacher Assists Gresham House in Obtaining First Ever Guernsey "Natural Capital Fund" Designation for its Biodiversity Creation Strategy
Simpson Thacher advised Gresham House in obtaining the designation “Natural Capital Fund” for its biodiversity creation strategy under the fund labelling regime set out in the Guernsey Natural Capital Fund Rules – the first fund to achieve this designation. Gresham House’s strategy will help to contribute toward the achievement of biodiversity targets set out in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, by investing in a diversified portfolio of biodiversity and natural capital projects, to deliver measurable and verifiable ecological outcomes that positively contribute or significantly reduce harm to the natural world.
Simpson Thacher leveraged its sustainable finance expertise to ensure that the fund’s natural capital objectives were effectively translated to meet the requirements of cross-jurisdictional regulatory regimes, including the Guernsey rules, as well as Article 9 of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The Gresham House fund has now formally been granted the status by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, marking a significant step in the firm’s long‑term natural capital and sustainable infrastructure strategy.
The Guernsey Natural Capital Fund regime is the world’s first regulated natural capital and biodiversity investment fund designation and provides investors with confidence regarding the governance, transparency and robust oversight of funds that seek to contribute to the internationally agreed objectives of abating biodiversity loss.
The Simpson Thacher team included Matt Feehily and Seungyeon Anderson (ESG).