Financing Forest Restoration: The Distribution and Role of Green Fintech in Nature-based Solutions to Climate Change

This seminar will problematise the rise of green fintech by focusing on the emergence of ‘fintech for forests,’ where we see an exponential growth of online platforms and products that let users donate to, invest in, or even virtually ‘own’ trees via apps and online schemes. Drawing on original mapping and network analysis, the seminar will trace where these platforms operate, who funds them, and where the trees are actually planted. It will assess how fintech claim to democratise climate finance and make sustainability more accessible, and where those claims begin to break down.