Fellowships

CBA Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Fellowship for Reimagining Nature Finance and Inclusive Capitalism

Endowed by the Eranda Rothschild Foundation, the CBA’s Fellowship explores innovative financial and policy frameworks to support the transition towards a circular bioeconomy, delivering both cutting-edge insights and practical, actionable solutions.

The Fellowship aims to pioneer a new understanding of how nature finance can catalyse transformative economic change and address the pressing social, economic and environmental challenges of our time. It also emphasises inclusivity, to help ensure that the voices of local communities, including Indigenous Peoples, are central to shaping new financial mechanisms.

Core focus areas:

Financing for Circular Bioeconomy Businesses
This focus area explores how financial systems and investments can be redirected to support business models that align with circular bioeconomy principles, where natural ecosystems and community well-being are integral to value creation. It examines innovative finance structures, including impact driven capital, ‘landscape accelerators’ and community-driven investment models. The aim is to create frameworks that incentivise sustainable, nature-positive business practices and value chains across various sectors, such as food, fashion, and health.

Non-Market Mechanisms for Nature Recovery
Moving beyond purely financial transactions, this area explores non-market approaches that support stewardship, protection, and local governance of natural resources. Potential solutions include community-based conservation funds, payments for stewardship (rather than ecosystem services), or cooperative models that reinvest surpluses into public goods. These mechanisms will prioritise the long-term health of ecosystems and communities over short-term financial optimisation.

Understanding Financial, Cultural, and Power Barriers
Through its innovative dialogue processes, the Fellowship explores the deeper cultural and social barriers to financing regenerative landscapes. Research investigates how entrenched power structures, financial systems, and historical inequalities act as barriers to transformation and explores ways to shift these dynamics to create more inclusive and equitable systems. The Fellowship will partner with circular dialogue specialists, ensuring that the perspectives of local communities and Indigenous peoples are central to the process.

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