Minnesota’s Heritage Forest
Located in the headwaters area of the Mississippi River, 31,000 acres of Minnesota’s Heritage Forest supports more than 350 species, such as many of the endangered, threatened and rare species listed in Minnesota. Keeping these lands forested will help to protect critical habitats that serve as climate resilient strongholds and play an essential role in supporting wildlife movement and diversity now and into the future.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Nutrient Reduction
- Carbon sequestration
- Protection and restoration of streams and wetlands
Email Contact: Michael Kelly
Fresh Coast Protection Partnership
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is working with a team led by Corvias to implement widespread green infrastructure (GI) across a 28-community region. Corvias will introduce project delivery efficiencies into the GI development process, thereby saving money and protecting water resources. GI includes but is not limited to green roofs, rain barrels and cisterns, porous pavement, native landscaping, trees, bioswales, constructed wetlands, and soil enhancements.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Nutrient Reduction
- Carbon sequestration
- Protection and restoration of streams and wetlands
- Flood management
Email Contact: Bre Plier
Euclid Waterfront Public Access and Shoreline Stabilization Improvements Plan
Euclid’s Waterfront Improvement Project is a transformational erosion mitigation and public access infrastructure project. The $12.7M (construction cost) project includes an ADA-accessible bicycling and pedestrian trail along 3/4 of a mile of mostly privately-owned shoreline. This project is essential for livability, economic growth, and community resiliency.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Nutrient Reduction
- Certified or permanently protected land
- Habitat Restoration
Email Contact: Allison Lukacsy-Love
alukacsy@cityofeuclid.com
PACE-Financed Green Roof for Belt Line Center
CounterpointeSRE’s financing of the project marks the first use of commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing for a green roof in Michigan. The green roof will provide the building with energy efficiency and stormwater management, and extend the life of its roof while integrating the property into the planned, city-wide greenway and bike path that will pass directly behind the property.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Carbon Sequestration
- Protection and restoration of streams and wetlands
- Energy saved
- Wildlife Habitat
Email Contact: Charles “Chip” Letts
DTE Electric Green Bonds
DTE Electric green bond helps to fund the development and construction of solar and wind farms, including the infrastructure to support renewable energy facilities, as well as strengthen energy efficiency programs to help Michigan residents and businesses reduce energy usage.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Reduction in carbon emissions
- Energy saved
Email Contact: Kathleen Hier
A Portfolio of Green Infrastructure, Watercourse Improvements, and Wastewater Conveyance Projects
In 2020, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) issued a “green bond” that will help to finance green infrastructure, watercourse improvements, and wastewater conveyance and treatment projects.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Nutrient reduction
- Carbon sequestration
- Environmental certification of land
- Groundwater recharge
- Protection and restoration of streams and wetlands
- Flood management
Email Contact: Karen Sands
Wilderness Lake Reserve
The Wilderness Lakes Reserve is a 6,108-acre contiguous, undeveloped working forest in Baraga County Michigan, that was acquired by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in August 2017. TNC completed a site review and developed a new forest management plan that allowed the acreage to remain enrolled in Michigan’s Commercial Forest Program, and to be certified under the Forest Stewardship Council standards for sustainably managed forestland.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Environmental certification of land
- Carbon sequestration
- Drinking water supply protection
- Habitat conservation
Email Contact: Rich Bowman
Shoreline Consolidation Sewer & E-09 CSO Control and Relief Sewer
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewage District’s (NEORSD) Shoreline Consolidation Sewer & E-09 CSO Control and Relief Sewer project (SCS) is part of Project Clean Lake – a $3 billion, 25-year program NEORSD designed to meet Clean Water Act standards and address water quality issues. The SCS project will reduce wet weather combined sewer overflows released into Lake Erie in the Greater Cleveland area by 220 million gallons annually.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Nutrient Reduction
- Drinking Water Supply Protection
- Reduction of Combined Sewer Overflows
Email Contact: Doug Lopata
Shoreline Storage Tunnel Project
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewage District’s (NEORSD) Shoreline Storage Tunnel (SST) project is part of Project Clean Lake – a $3 billion, 25-year program NEORSD designed to meet Clean Water Act standards and address water quality issues. The SST is the fifth of seven new large diameter tunnels, along with other projects, that NEORSD will use toward Project Clean Lake’s overall goal to reduce the 4.5 billion gallons of wet weather combined sewer overflows released into Lake Erie and its tributaries in the Greater Cleveland area.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Nutrient Reduction
- Drinking Water Supply Protection
- Reduction of Combined Sewer Overflows
Email Contact: Doug Lopata
Big Trout Bay
The Conservation Fund in partnership with Nature Conservancy Canada invested $1.1 million in the Big Trout Bay property in Neebing, Ontario. The property boasts more than 2,500 acres of undisturbed habitat along 12 miles of pristine shoreline that supports several rare plant species such as inland bluegrass, western cliff fern and Missouri goldenrod. Its high-quality coastal cliff habitat and dense forests provide a home for wildlife species like the bald eagle and peregrine falcon. The property has one of the highest concentrations of species and natural communities in the Great Lakes region. Six miles of hiking trails provide hikers with spectacular views of the Lake Superior shoreline.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Environmental Certification of Land
- Nutrient Reduction
- Carbon sequestration
Email Contact: Reggie Hall
Lyme St. Croix and Lyme Solon Springs
The Lyme Forest Fund III and The Lyme Forest Fund IV invested in 85,000 acres in northern Wisconsin between 2011 and 2015. In what became the largest land conservation effort in Wisconsin’s history, Lyme, in collaboration with The Conservation Fund, conveyed to Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources conservation easements on 72,500 acres of timberland in three separate transactions.
ESG OUTCOMES:
- Protection and restoration of streams and wetlands
- Drinking water supply protection
- Habitat conservation
- Carbon sequestration
- Flood management
- Maintenance of air quality
- Soil regeneration
Email Contact: Merrit Patridge
DISCLAIMER:
If you are interested in participating in the Great Lakes Impact Investment Platform, please contact the Conference staff. The Platform project team includes experts in environmental metrics, project design, and public policy that can assist with developing and implementing projects. Participation in the Platform is completely free and voluntary.
Developers of investment products and strategies participating in the Platform are not affiliated in any way with the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, the States, or Provinces and the developers are solely responsible for the management of those investment opportunities and strategies.