The Livelihoods Carbon Funds
Combining climate change resilience with strong social & economic impact
The Livelihoods Carbon Fund #1
(Launched in 2011)
The Livelihoods Carbon Fund #2 - Objectives
(Launched in 2017)
The Livelihoods Carbon Fund #3 - Objectives
(Launched in 2021)
We help rural communities restore and preserve their ecosystems to improve their livelihoods
25% of the world’s population directly relies on forest ecosystems for their livelihoods: food and water, revenues, shelter, energy… And yet, we are losing a forest surface area equivalent to nearly 50 football fields every minute. Moreover, poor rural communities in developing countries are the first to suffer from climate change. They also lack access to knowledge, technology, and upfront financing to give them agency in their development.
Livelihoods Carbon Funds (LCF) leverage the carbon economy to finance ecosystem restoration, agroforestry and rural energy projects to improve food security for rural communities and increase farmers’ revenues.
LCF provide upfront financing to project developers for large-scale project implementation and maintenance over periods of 10 to 20 years. These funds rely on an innovative business model: corporations, financial bodies, and institutions join forces to invest in long-term carbon compensation projects that strongly benefit local communities. The investors receive result-based payments for the risks they bear in the form of carbon credits. This investment model is made possible thanks to long-term commitments from our investors.
Livelihoods Carbon Fund #1 was launched in 2011 by 10 investors: Crédit Agricole S.A., Danone, dsm-firmenich, Groupe Caisse des Dépôts, Hermès, La Poste, Michelin, SAP, Schneider Electric, and Voyageurs du Monde.
Livelihoods Carbon Fund #2 was created in 2017 by Crédit Agricole, Danone, dsm-firmenich, Hermès, Michelin, SAP, Schneider Electric, and Voyageurs du Monde, enabling them to accelerate their climate action commitments while protecting vulnerable populations. It was joined by Eurofins in 2019.
In 2021, Livelihoods Carbon Fund #3 was launched with 14 investors: Bel Group, Chanel, Danone, DEG Invest, Eurofins, Hermès, L’Occitane, Mars, Mauritius Commercial Bank, McCain Foods, Orange, SAP, Schneider Electric, and Voyageurs du Monde.
Livelihoods Carbon Fund #4 was launched in 2026, alongside 8 of its long-standing investors: Danone, Hermès, Mars, Mauritius Commercial Bank, McCain, SAP, Schneider Electric, and Voyageurs du Monde. This fund is a continuation of Livelihoods’ work in developing and delivering nature-based solutions aimed at restoring ecosystems, strengthening climate resilience, and improving the livelihoods of rural communities.
Our Main Focus Areas
Agroforestry
Agroforestry is the combined planting of trees and crops. Projects supported by the Livelihoods Funds help empower farmers with this technique, which holds multiple benefits for productivity and biodiversity: trees naturally enhance soil fertility, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers while preventing soil erosion and sequestering huge amounts of CO₂. Through crop diversification, farmers become more resilient to climate hazards and market volatility, and can increase yields without degrading their ecosystem.
Mangrove restoration
Mangroves are groups of trees and shrubs that grow where sea and land meet. These rich ecosystems house marine life and protect coastlines from storms. But activities like fuelwood gathering, overfishing, and pollution, among other reasons, are destroying these forests, threatening the rural communities that depend on them. The Livelihoods Carbon Funds help vulnerable communities restore their invaluable mangrove forests.
Rural energy
In most developing countries, wood is the main source of energy. Traditional cookstoves (often 3 stones laid on the ground) consume a lot of wood and produce toxic smoke, which particularly affects women and children, and causes approximately 4.3 million deaths worldwide each year. The fuel-efficient cookstoves distributed by the Livelihoods fund decrease wood consumption by more than 50%, thus preserving forests and mitigating climate change. Moreover, they lessen women’s exposure to toxic smokes and diminish the time spent collecting wood and cooking.
Our Investors
*All information is accurate as of July 2026.