Abstract
Sustainable investment is an investment approach that incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Private funding can be used for ecological restoration projects, and it can be essential for ensuring the success and longevity of ecological restoration projects in urban areas. Private companies use sustainable investments to offer private funding to projects that have positive environmental outcomes. Along with projects that benefits from receiving private funding, private companies also benefit from investing in ecological restoration projects.
This study seeks to explore the variety of incentives that are put in place for private investors to fund ecological restoration projects in urban areas of South Africa. The study has three objectives. First, to determine which factors attract private investors when deciding to fund an ecological restoration or green project. Second, to determine the requirements of the potential project that must be met in order for private companies to invest in ecological restoration or green projects along with resources the companies designate for funding ecological restoration or green projects. Third, to design a conceptual model to help ecological restoration practitioners attract private investors. The term “green project” was used interchangeably with ecological restoration projects in objectives 1 and 2 along with the interview questions and the results from the interview questions. This was done to accommodate private companies that refer to any ecological restoration projects they participate in as green projects.
Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from the top 50 Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) companies within the private sector. Thematic analysis and the MAXQDA analysis software were used to analyse the data. The results of the study demonstrate how private companies are attracted to projects that have positive environmental outcomes and prioritise community involvement. The findings also show how private companies benefit from sustainable investments and the resources that have been put in place to ensure sustainable investments. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that future studies can investigate the implementation of the sustainability investment practical guideline and whether the use of guideline assisted ecological restoration practitioners in securing private funding. It is important to investigate whether the usage of the guideline was successful as the main purpose of the guideline is to assist ecological restoration practitioners.
Key words: Community involvement, positive environmental outcomes, private companies, private funding, sustainable investments.