Author: sHq_LoGiNz

Key Points

• Vets with Nets welcomed 375 veterans for a day of fishing, connection and appreciation on Lake Erie.
• Detroit refinery employees, including members of the site’s HONOR employee network group, supported the event as boat captains and on-shore volunteers.
• The event helped veterans spend time outdoors, share stories and connect with others, with MPC volunteers proud to help make the experience possible.

Vets with Nets brought hundreds of veterans together for a day of fishing, connection and appreciation, with Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) volunteers from the Detroit refinery helping support the annual event on and off the water.

Employees, including members of the site’s HONOR employee network group, volunteered at the annual Vets with Nets event. Four MPC employees volunteered as boat captains and joined the broader group of more than 170 boats, helping take veterans out on Lake Erie for a day designed to recognize their service and create a memorable experience.

This year’s event welcomed 375 veterans. Despite rough conditions that caused some smaller boats to return early and others to stay ashore, 92 boats brought fish to the weigh station, with a total of 1,480 fish tallied.For one veteran, the experience left a lasting impression.“Between the laughs, the stories and just being out on the water, it was exactly the kind of day we all needed.”“What started with a little uncertainty ended up being one of the most fun days we’ve had in a long time,” the veteran shared. “Between the laughs, the stories and just being out on the water, it was exactly the kind of day we all needed. You made us feel welcome, and your generosity didn’t go unnoticed.”

On shore, volunteers for MPC and its midstream component MPLX also hosted a booth and handed out giveaways to guests. The refinery’s Maintenance Director Jason Harmon, who helped organize MPC’s participation, said the event is meaningful because it offers employees a tangible way to show appreciation for veterans.

“We don’t take lightly the sacrifices veterans have made,” Harmon said. “We wanted to show our gratitude in a meaningful way, investing time and energy to help ensure they enjoyed their time on the water and have a successful fishing trip.”

As interest in debt conversions for nature continues to grow globally, so does the need for detailed case studies that help sovereigns, financial stakeholders, and conservation practitioners understand how these structured transactions come together. 

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has pioneered a sovereign debt refinancing model, under the Nature Bonds Program, that helps countries unlock sustainable long-term financing for national conservation and climate priorities while advancing their financial, economic, and development goals. Since launching its Nature Bonds Program, TNC has successfully closed six Nature Bonds transactions – unlocking ~$1 billion for conservation, communities and climate, raising more than $2 billion of new financing, and refinancing more than $3 billion of existing debt. 

Over the past decade, TNC has built an interdisciplinary team of dedicated finance, legal, science, safeguards, and trust fund experts to advance this growing asset class. Drawing on TNC’s deep technical expertise in originating, structuring, negotiating, and executing debt conversions, we have published a new case study on The Bahamas Debt Conversion Project for Marine Conservation. The publication provides an in-depth overview of the financial structure and credit enhancement package, how funding was unlocked, and the role of the conservation trust fund. 

The innovative project refinanced $300 million of The Bahamas’ external sovereign debt, creating $132 million of funding to improve ocean conservation and management over 15 years. Building on earlier Nature Bonds transactions, this project introduced a first-of-its-kind credit enhancement package that combined private guarantees and insurance with a public-sector anchor guarantee. In this instance, in collaboration with TNC, the IDB played a pivotal role in de-risking the transaction by crowding in a co-guarantee from Builder’s Vision and co-insurance from AXA XL.

Read the case study to dive deeper!

With thanks to all who helped make this possible, including Government of The Bahamas, Inter-American Development Bank, Builders Vision, AXA XL, Standard Chartered, Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (BPAF), Bahamas National Trust, and many others. And congrats to the many colleagues across TNC that worked so hard to achieve this win for nature and for The Bahamas. 

Learn more about the TNC Nature Bonds Program and watch out for more news as our project pipeline continues to grow.

 

For media inquiries:

Rachel Winters
Deputy Director, Global Media
The Nature Conservancy
Email: rwinters@tnc.org

Cascale is pleased to welcome four new members to its membership community in the second quarter of 2026.

Spanning brands, retailers, and manufacturers across AMER, APAC, and EMEA, these organizations join a network of more than 300 corporate and affiliate member organizations working toward a more equitable and restorative consumer goods industry.

Organizations that joined Cascale between April and June 2026 include:

• Shahi Exports — Manufacturer, Corporate Member
• Bemis Associates — Manufacturer, Corporate Member
• Pepco Poland (part of Pepco Group N.V., WSE: PCO)— Brand & Retailer, Corporate Member
• Celio France — Brand & Retailer, Candidate Member

The new members join at a time when consumer goods companies face intensifying pressure to demonstrate credible progress — from regulators tightening due diligence and reporting requirements, from customers, and from supply chains that overlap across the same countries and facilities. Those pressures are largely shared, and Cascale’s belief is that the response should be coordinated as well.

Cascale membership is built around that logic. Organizations bring their hardest operational questions to peers who have already worked through them, and take on the systemic challenges collectively, drawing on industry data, expert guidance, and training to move from measuring performance to improving it. The work runs in both directions: the frameworks and methodologies Cascale stewards and governs are shaped by the organizations that use them, and members set priorities through Cascale’s councils, task forces, and governance bodies. For manufacturers in particular, that is a route into industry decision-making that has not always been open.

Cascale will support the new members’ participation across its programs, events, and member-led initiatives throughout 2026 and beyond.

Please join us in welcoming Bemis Associates, Shahi Exports, Pepco Poland, and Celio France to the Cascale community.

Interested in learning how Cascale membership can support your organization’s sustainability journey? Explore what membership offers and find out how you can be part of driving industry-wide change.