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$28 Billion across 23 deals in climate ($25.8 billion), nature-based solutions ($633 Million), hard to abate industries ($1.6 Billion), and blue economy ($513 million).

10 Essential Deals and Commitments:

Climate:

• The World Bank receives $11 billion in pledges to back climate and disaster resilience lending
• EPA announces $7 billion in solar grants
• Vantage Data Centers secures $3 billion green loan
• Honda invests $815 million in ethanol hybrid production in Brazil
• GEF Capital Partners closes second climate solutions fund for $325 million

NbS:

• Manulife Forest Climate Fund has second close at $335 million
• Mongolia signs $198 million dollar deal to conserve grasslands, produce credits

Hard to Abate:

• Australia invests $214 million in decarbonizing hard to abate sectors
• Twelve awarded $28.5 million to support carbon conversion technology development

Blue Economy

• Salmon farmer Mowi raises $320 million in green bonds

News & Research:

Policy/regulatory highlights:

• UK government announces 10% sustainable jet fuel requirement
• U.S releases new rules for carbon capture on coal plants

Climate & NbS finance:

• Nature Action 100 releases benchmark indicators
• Hong Kong Stock Exchange requires ISSB disclosures for listed companies

Additional research pieces:

• Nature paper examines potential for nature-based climate adaptation
• Science study finds ecosystem conservation effective at slowing biodiversity loss

C4C News and Events

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Nature-based Solutions ≥ $1M

Commitments and deals

Commitments

BLM proposes $348 million for Southwest environmental restoration [blm]

• The BLM is planning a $348 million implementation of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management act to provide funding for conservation, restoration and improvement projects throughout Nevada. The implementation plan is available for comment by affected parties.

Deals

Manulife Forest Climate Fund has second close at $335 million [prnewswire]

• Manulife has announced it has secured $334.5 million in commitments for the second close of the Manulife Forest Climate Fund. The Fund focuses on investments in durable, high quality carbon credit producing forest investments, as well as conservation easements, value-added strategies and non-timber income generation to support climate positive effects and produce returns.

Mongolia signs $198 million blended finance grassland restoration scheme [thecattlesite]

• Mongolia has signed a nature finance agreement covering 35.6 million acres (144,000 square km) of the country's land and waters. The government will provide $127 million, and global donors $71 million to support primarily the protection of grasslands, with some programs  providing biodiversity offsets to mine firms based on the conserved land.

New York Invests $82 million in sustainable agriculture [governor.ny]

• New York State's recently approved budget will provide $81.8 million in support for sustainable agriculture throughout the state. The funding is split into multiple tracks, including improved livestock management, soil health improvements, and adaptation and resilience support.

Treefera raises $12 million [carbon herald]

• Treefera, an AI data management platform focused on nature-based asset reporting, has raised $12 million from its series A fundraising round. The company's platform aims to integrate satellite, drone, and ground truth data, overlayed with AI algorithms, to provide risk evaluations for nature-based asset holders such as biochar producer and credit project developers.

MBZF SCF provides $3.89 million for bird species conservation [aninews]

• The Mohammed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund has announced $3.89 million for investments in bird species conservation, including habitat restoration. The fund is targeting species including the red fronted Macaw and the Fatu Hiva monarch.

NPH Harvest raises €2.2 million for wastewater nutrient recycling [future farming]

• NPHarvest, a startup focused on nutrient recycling, has raised € 2.2 million in investments to support the development of the company's Nutrient Catcher, which aims to prevent nutrient leaching from wastewater into the environment. The company's pilot hardware is thought to be able to catch up to 90 percent of excess nutrients from wastewater.

Climate Finance ≥ $100M

Commitments and deals

Commitments

AFDB and World Bank examine $30 billion plan to provide electricity across the continent with priority for distributed renewables [afrik21]

• The World Bank and the African Development Bank have set an ambitious goal of connecting 300 million people across Africa to electricity by 2030, with the World Bank funding power and connections for 250 million and the AFDB another 50 million. The focus of the project will be on distributed renewable energy as well as grid connection, and will also contain funding for grid power.

Dartmouth pledges $500 million investment in decarbonization [dartmouth]

• Dartmouth has planned $500 million in investments in carbon reduction over the next 5 years, with the goal of reducing overall carbon emissions by 60% in 2030 and 100% by 2050. The investments will focus on decarbonizing campus infrastructure as well as supporting research in climate solutions by the campus's faculty and students.

UN Refugee Agency aims to raise $100 million for climate refugee support fund [france24]

• The UN High Commission for Refugees has announced a goal of raising $100 million by the end of 2025 to support climate-related refugees. The agency would promote the use of funds to improve infrastructure resilience for refugees and prioritize the involvement of affected communities in project design and execution.

Deals
The World Bank receives $11 billion in pledges for hybrid capital instruments to fund climate and disaster resilience [reuters]

• The World Bank has announced its largest balance sheet expansion since 2022, with 11 countries pledging to contribute more than $11 billion dollars in cash and guarantees to expand the bank's climate lending capabilities. Japan is expected to contribute $1 billion, France $500 billion, and the U.S a flexible guarantee backed by a $750 million appropriations request. The World Bank said that the facilities will only finance projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, prevent pandemics, or have other cross-border benefits.

U.S EPA announces $7 billion dollars in solar grants for 60 selectees [epa]

• The US EPA has announced $7 billion in Solar for All grants to support residential solar development across the U.S. The solar grants will be implemented across 60 selectees, including state, local and tribal governments. The grants are estimated to benefit over 900,000 households and generate $350 million in electricity savings annually.

Vantage Data Centers secures $3 billion green loan [businesswire]

• Vantage Data Centers, a data center campus provider, has secured a $3 billion green loan from a syndicate led by Wells Fargo, TD Securities, and Scotiabank to further build out the company's data center platform. The initial financing will be for eight leased and greenfield sites totaling 1.4GW of IT capacity.

DOE announces $1.93 billion in allocations for Advanced Energy Project Credit [daily energy insider]

• The DOE has announced that 35 projects across 20 states have received $1.93 billion in allocations of the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit, (48C) which provides a tax credit of up to 30 percent of qualified investments for projects that meet prevailing wage requirements. The awarded projects ranged across grid component manufacture, electric vehicle and charger components, solar components, clean steel, critical mineral processing, and other clean energy products. 7 of the projects are located in traditional energy communities.

U.S provides $1.5 billion to support heavy-duty vehicle transition [white house]

• The U.S EPA has announced approximately $1 billion in investments through the clean heavy vehicles grant program. The program will include investments to replace existing school buses and other large utility vehicles including box haulers, refuse haulers, dump trucks, street sweepers and others. The DOT will also provide $400 million through its port facilities grant program to reduce carbon pollution around ports, and the DOE $72 million to support the Super Truck Charge program to electrify truck depots.

Honda to invest 4.2 billion reals ($815 million) in ethanol hybrid production [nippon]

• Honda will invest $815 million in hybrid ethanol production in Brazil by 2030, in order to scale the company’s low- and no-carbon auto production. The investment comes as part of a wider green auto push by the Brazilian government.

GEF Capital Partners closes US Climate Solutions Fund II at $325 million [prnewswire]

• GEF Capital Partners has closed its GEF US Climate Solutions Fund at $325 million, exceeding its $250 million target. The fund is focused on investment in lower middle market companies in the US and Canada that are scaling climate change and pollution remediation solutions. Investors included Blue Earth Capital, HQ capital, ODDO BHF, INGKA, and GEM investments. The fund has already made 6 investments in InSite, Lifecycle Renewables, Murf E-Bikes, Polargy, Civic Renewables, and Next Step Energy Solutions.

USDA invests $238 million in clean energy projects [usda]

• The USDA will invest $238 million across more than 700 clean energy projects to support rural clean energy production through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIOP). The investments range widely including $15 million for energy efficient strawberry production in New Jersey, $536,000 for row crop solar in Tennessee, and $3 million for ethanol storage enhancement in Kansas, among others.

Quinbrook closes £120 million deal for 5 condenser project [business wire]

• Quinbrook, a global investment manager focused on transition infrastructure, has announced a £120 million ($150 million) debt financing deal for a portfolio of 5 condenser projects. The condensers will be used to help support phases I and 2 of National Grid's Stability Pathfinder Program, and will provide grid stability as renewable capacity is added to the UK power system.

DOE invests $100 million in renewable grid preparation [energy]

• The U.S DOE has announced $100 million in field demonstration and other research to support improved and decarbonized grid planning. The anticipated FOAs include Connected Communities 2.0; the Solar Technologies’ Rapid Integration and Validation for Energy Systems project (STRIVES) and SuperTruck Charge.

Agilitas Energycloses $100 million deal [business wire]

• Agilitas Energy has closed $100 million in debt financing to fund the growth and expansion of its distributed energy storage and solar photovoltaic system projects. The funds will support the build out of more than 250 megawatts of solar over the next 3 years.

Ecozen raises $30 million [krishijagran]

• Ecozen, an agricultural solar company, has announced $30 million in investments through debt and equity to help scale the company's investments in India. The company will invest the funds in further rolling out its solar powered irrigation and cold chain technologies, and begin establishing a global market presence.

Hard to Abate Sectors ≥ $1M

Commitments and deals

Deals

Australia invests AUD$330 million in hard to abate sectors [renew economy]

• The Australian government has announced AUD$330 million ($218 million) to support the decarbonization of hard to abate industrial sectors across the country. The recipients include Cement Australia, which will receive AUD 52.9 million for kiln improvements, Gladstone refinery, which will receive AUD 93 million for a double digestion project, and a Murrin Murrin hybrid battery storage at a cobalt and nickel mine in Western Australia.

Twelve awarded $28.5 million through 48C Investment Tax Credit program to support Carbon conversion technology [carbon herald]

• Twelve has been awarded $28.5 through the 28C Investment Tax Credit to help the company expand the production of its OPUS CO2 electrolyzer. The company will use the funding to develop and launch a pilot production facility in California.

Data decarbonization company Exowatt launches with $20 million [business wire]

• Exo Watt has announced the completion of a $20 million dollar seed round to support the development of the company's modular energy generation system for data centers. The company's technology stores heat instead of electricity for greater resilience and efficiency in supporting data centers.

Goodcarbon secures €5.25 million for expansion [forbes]

• Goodcarbon, a carbon offset platform, has raised €5.25 million to expand its analytics products and provide new carbon offsetting projects. The funding round was led by Ocean 14 Capital with participation from Silver Strand, Planet A Ventures, 468 Capital and Greenfield Capital.

Blackrock and Temasek raise $1.4 billion for decarbonization growth fund [esg today]

• BlackRock and Temasek have announced a raise of $1.4 billion for the final close of their Decarbonization Partners Fund 1, well exceeding the $1 billion fundraising target. The fund invests in companies with de-risked and ready to scale decarbonization technologies, and has made 7 investments so far.

Blue Economy ≥ $1M

Commitments and deals

Deals

Mowi raises $320 million in green bonds [intrafish]

• Mowi, one of the world's largest salmon farming firms, has issued $318 million in green bonds across 2 tranches, which will support the expansion of the company's certified green products.

US announces $123 million for coastal habitat restoration and coastal resilience [NOAA]

• The Bident Administration has announced $123 million for coastal habitat restoration programs across the country, including $59.8 million for state and territory coastal zone management programs, $15 million for national estuarine research reserves, and $48 million in research funding on ensuring planning, management and implementation.

Doi to invest $70 million in fish migration restoration projects [doi]

• The U.S department of interior will invest more than $70 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to improve fish passage across the country, supporting 43 projects in 29 states. Projects will support fish migration and improve aquatic habitat through a range of practices, including dam removal, floodplain restoration, and tidal system restoration, among other projects.

Research and Knowledge Sharing

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Policy and Regulations

UN ends Net Zero Investing Alliance, launches new forum [environmental finance]

• UNEP has announced it will discontinue its Net Zero Insurance Alliance, which had a major member exodus in 2023 due to antitrust risk, and instead create the "Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero'' which will provide a space for insurers to share strategies on the transition and coordinate. UNEP hopes that the new forum will accelerate the transition and help craft insurance-specific transition plans, while avoiding the coordination issues that led to insurers leaving NZIA, though so far none of the insurers who left have joined FIT.

U.S details natural capital accounting practices from 2023 [white house]

• The U.S government is reviewing its progress on implementing Natural Capital Accounting since the launch of the U.S National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions in January of 2023. In the ensuing year, the U.S has launched the Pilot National Land Account to measure the value of land in official U.S economic statistics, the Pilot National Water Account to value water resources, the Pilot National Air Emissions Account for air emissions trends, and the Pilot National Environmental Activity Accounts for environmental management activities.

UK announces 10% sustainable jet fuel requirement by 2030 [esgtoday]

• The UK has announced it will mandate 10% sustainable aviation fuel within the UK jet fuel mix by 2030. The government has set a target of 2% SAF in 2025 and 22% in 2040, with the goal of supplying 1.2 million tons of SAF to the airline industry each year, and adding over GBP 1.8 billion to the economy.

Loss & Damage Collaboration releases vision for fund [loss and damage collaboration]

• The Loss and Damage Fund Collaboration has released an advocacy brief outlining suggestions for building the loss and damage fund. The brief argues that clear principles of meaningful participation for effected communities will be vital for ensuring the LDF succeeds in effectively carrying out its mission of supporting those most vulnerable to climate change impacts.

New EPA rule mandates capture for coal plants [epa]

• The US EPA has finalized rules to reduce pollution from fossil fuel plants, including a finalized rule that ensures coal-fired plants and new baseload gas-fired plants control 90 percent of all carbon pollution, a rule strengthening the mercury and air toxic standards for coal-fired plants, a rule reducing pollutants in wastewater from coal-fired power plants, and a rule requiring the safe management of coal ash. These rules are expected to affect all existing coal power plants and require the implementation of major carbon capture and storage facilities at fossil plants across the country.

Final CSDD text approved by EU parliament [responsible investor] (Courtesy of Nature 4 Climate)

• The EU Parliament has approved the final text of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive 374-325. The Directive will need to be approved by member state representatives in May, and once signed will need to be legislated into the laws of each member state. Some changes were made to reduce the scope of the legislation, including increasing the employee and turnover thresholds for coverage.

Finance Research and Updates

Climate related funds grew 16% to $540 billion [ifamagazine]

• Morningstar's Investing In Times of Climate Change: 2023 in Review report finds that assets in mutual funds and ETFs with a climate-related mandate rose globally by 16% in 20234 to $540 billion, with inflows of $40 billion, which was the lowest in 4 years. 1,652 climate-related funds were identified globally, a more than 30% increase from the 1,206 identified in 2022.

Nature Action 100 releases benchmark indicators [nature action 100] (Courtesy of Nature 4 Climate)

• Nature Action 100 has released its company benchmarks in preparation for the release of its first company assessments later in 2024. The benchmarks set out target indicators to track and assess companies' approaches to their impact on nature.

Hong Kong Stock Exchange to require ISSB climate disclosures for listed companies [esgtoday]

• The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has announced that all companies that seek to list on the exchange will be required to provide climate-related disclosures based on the ISSB reporting standards for scope1 and scope 2. Disclosure is required to begin starting from January 1, 2025, with Large Cap issuers required to disclose scope 3 emissions as well.

Garp provides survey of global nature risk [garp]

• Garp has published a Global Survey of Nature Risk Management at Financial Firms, covering 48 firms’ approaches to nature risk. The report finds that nearly half of boards in the sample have oversight for nature-related risk and opportunities, and that uptake is slow, with 40% of firms still investigating if nature risk is worth accounting for, among other findings.

Emerging Science

New paper in Nature Scientific Reports examines eligibility of different climate solutions for credit status [nature] (Courtesy of Nature 4 Climate)

• A new study in Nature Scientific Reports examines the eligibility of different conservation agriculture practices for carbon credit generation under Verra's VM0042 methodology in India. The study uses farmer surveys and remote sensing data to determine additionality, Yield Penalty Condition, and needed Quantitative Adjustment Condition. The analysis found that conservation agriculture (CA) could increase farmers' carbon credit earrings by $18/ha in Bihar and $30/ha in Punjab.

Study explores possibilities for nature-based climate adaptation in developing countries [nature]

• A new study in Nature Communications Earth & Environment examines the ways that developing countries can use nature-based solutions to adapt to climate change. The study finds that nature-based solutions provide an effective method for dealing with climate change effects, especially when they have positive co-benefits for involved communities. The report found that NbS were the only interventions that had positive effects across all outcome categories, including combating climate change effects and promoting economic benefits.

Study finds conservation effective at slowing biodiversity loss [bbc] (Courtesy of Nature 4 Climate)

• A review study in Science of more than 665 trials of conservation measures finds that conservation tends to be effective in 2/3 cases in slowing or reversing biodiversity loss. The study also found that, even when conservation efforts did not help species recover, they often had beneficial effects for other species.

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