Your Newsletter at a Glance
Note from the author: This week we see lower frequency in climate finance deals, yet numbers in the billions for three global regions including ~$3bn for Louisiana coastal restoration.
Some highlights in this issue:
- How the diving sector and LATAM are contributing to the Blue Economy.
- In the view of CDP, financial institutions are not accounting for nature-related dependencies, risking net-zero achievement.
- The Inflation Reduction Act turns one: what’s happened so far?
- Microbes and synthetic biology holding ground in the Food/Ag sectors.
Deal Count: This issue covers $11.7bn in deals and commitments to climate finance around the world, with India ($7bn) taking over half the pie. Nature-based solutions saw ~$3.3bn in deal flow with $300mn going toward Ag and Food. Read more details in the 24 deal and research highlights below.
Climate Finance
Deals and commitments above $100mn
Market Watch
India Approves $7bn Plan to Electrify Public Transport [Bloomberg]
- India has approved an investment of 576.13 billion rupees ($7 billion) for green public transportation as it seeks to curb emissions from vehicles and meet surging demand in its cities. The investment will be made to deploy 10,000 electric buses across the nation.
Consortium to invest EUR 2bn ($2.18bn) in solar module production in Germany [Renewables Now]
- Three companies in the German photovoltaic industry are joining forces in a EUR-2-billion (USD 2.18bn) bid for a federal RFP aimed at rebuilding an integrated value chain for solar module production in Europe's largest economy.
Occidental to Buy Canadian Startup Carbon Engineering for $1.1bn [Mergers and Acquisitions]
- Occidental Petroleum Corp. agreed to buy Canadian startup Carbon Engineering Ltd. for $1.1 billion as the oil producer aims to build a position as a leader in carbon dioxide removal. The U.S. oil producer has partnered with Carbon Engineering for the last four years, using its technology for its West Texas-based Stratos project, set to be the world’s largest direct air capture plant by 2025 with a planned capacity of removing 500Kt CO2/yr.
Research
Green and other labeled finance markets hit $4tn mark [Climate Bonds Initiative]
- A market update from the Climate Bonds Initiative (Climate Bonds) reports that aligned Green, Social, Sustainability, Sustainability-Linked and Transition (collectively GSS+) finance volumes passed the $4trillion mark in H1 2023, reaching a combined $4.2trillion.
Multidecadal dynamics project slow 21st-century economic growth and income convergence [Nature]
- Future economic growth will affect societal well-being and the environment, but is uncertain how. Researchers describe a multidecadal pattern of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth rising, then declining, as regions become richer. This study used an empirically-fitted assessment model named International Futures to project high poverty and population growth, and moderate energy demands and carbon dioxide emissions, within the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway range.
How a half-trillion dollars is transforming climate technology [MIT Technology Review]
- Checking in with the Inflation Reduction Act one year later, with funds starting to work their way through the US economy and remaking climate technology along the way. An updated evaluation from the Joint Committee on Taxation in April 2023 estimated total government investment in the IRA of $515 billion from 2023 through 2032 (up $146 billion from projections in 2022) though that figure doesn’t include all the law’s programs, such as consumer tax credits for electric vehicles.
Nature-based Solutions
Deals and commitments above $1mn
Market Watch
- Nearly $3 billion in settlement money from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster that impacted the US Gulf Coast is now funding a massive ecosystem restoration in southeastern Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish.
Farmland LP Launches $250mn Third Fund Focused on Organic and Regenerative Agriculture [Cision]
- Farmland LP, a fund manager specializing in the transition to organic farming, announced the launch of its $250M Vital Farmland III (Fund III), its third and largest fund to date. Fund III will extend Farmland LP's mission of transforming conventional farms into dynamic, sustainable, and organic operations, catering to the increasing consumer demand for food products derived from organic and regeneratively farmed sources.
Research
- A recent review paper out of Scripps Institution of Oceanography looks at the role of the diving sector in attaining an equitable Blue Economy. Researchers found that diving represents one of the only endeavors that enables citizens to actively support the Blue Economy and help to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, "Life Below Water"; therefore they posit that the diving sector is uniquely poised to help address conservation goals and sustainable development.
Mapping ocean health startups in Latin America [Medium]
- Latin America, called the fastest growing region for venture capital in 2021 by Crunchbase, sees $44M raised over the last few years by 25 ocean startups based-in or sourcing-from the region. Latin America has a massive coastline and large coastal populations, and could use more support to transition to a new blue economy.
- Financial institutions (FIs) are failing to account for nature-related dependencies, risks and opportunities in their financial decision-making, according to ‘Nature in Green Finance’ – a newly released report by CDP. The report, which identifies significant gaps in how FIs oversee, implement, manage, and measure nature-related impact compared to climate change, urges that action must first begin with system-wide recognition of the intrinsic link between impacts on climate and those on nature.
Climate Finance
Deals and commitments above $100mn
Individual Deals & Market Watch
Renewa scores $450mn [VC News Daily]
- Renewa, a leading land and infrastructure investor in the renewable energy industry, announced that it has secured $450 million (US) of committed capital, led by Australian investment group, QIC, a leading institutional investment manager and advisor. The new capital will enable the company to further its mission to advance the transition to renewable energy in the United States.
Long Island’s $400mn green bond to finance climate-resilient upgrades to the grid [Impact Alpha]
- The Long Island Power Authority issued a $400 million green bond in August to enhance its transmission and distribution network, enabling a shift to a zero carbon grid by 2040, while also boosting its ability to cope with climate challenges.
Italy to help low income homes go solar with EUR 200mn ($218mn) fund [Renewables Now]
- The Italian government will launch a EUR-200-million (USD 220.4m) energy income fund to help families experiencing financial difficulties install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.
Dublin's TechMet closes $200mn to secure the supply of the key metals for renewable energy [TechEU]
- TechMet, the start-up which is building projects to secure the supply of the key metals for EVs, energy storage and renewable energy has raised a $200 million equity round. The Dublin-based firm is on track to exceed a billion-dollar valuation in the next few months.
- d.light, the global provider of household products and affordable finance for low-income households in Africa, announced a $30 million securitization facility has been successfully secured from the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group), with the capability to purchase up to $125 million of receivable assets. d.light will use the capital to increase its existing securitized financing facility in Tanzania and scale up its low-cost Pay-Go personal finance service so more low-income households can purchase the company's solar-powered household products.
Nature-based Solutions
Deals and commitments above $1mn
Individual Deals & Market Watch
- The Bureau of Land Management announced more than $18 million in shovel-ready ecosystem restoration and resilience projects on the nation’s public lands supporting 39 ecosystem restoration and climate resilience projects across 10 Western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. The projects include efforts to restore habitats and leverage resources through government and community partnerships.
- Protoga (Yuanyu Biotechnology) announced the completion of round A financing of nearly 100 million yuan. The financing was led by Hengxu Capital, followed by Houshi Investment and Yazhouwan Venture Capital. Protega is a synthetic biology company with the ability to discover and create microalgal resources for bioeconomy development in the fields of food, medicine, agriculture and chemical engineering.
- Microbiome research is critical for improving agricultural productivity, sustainability of agricultural ecosystems, safety of the food supply, carbon sequestration in agricultural systems, and meeting the challenge of feeding a rapidly growing world population. Research supported by the Agricultural Microbiomes in Plant Systems and Natural Resources program area priority within the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative will help fill major knowledge gaps in characterizing agricultural microbiomes and microbiome functions across agricultural production systems, and natural resources through crosscutting projects.
Yard Stick Raises $10.6mn in Series A Funding [Finsmes]
- Yard Stick, a Cambridge, MA-based soil carbon measurement technology company, raised $10.6M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $16M, attracted a number of notable investors with climate and nature strategies. It was led by Toyota Ventures Climate Fund along with Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Lowercarbon Capital, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Pillar VC. Yard Stick provides an integrated suite of software and hardware offerings to solve key soil carbon measurement challenges at global scale.
- Clever Carnivore is a cell-cultured meat startup based in Illinois, USA that uses stem cell biology, recombinant protein, and bioengineering to make lab grown meats. The recent announcement brings total funding to the startup to $6.3mn.
Yield10 Bioscience announces pricing of $3.7mn public offering [Trading View]
- Yield10 Bioscience utilizes genetic engineering and synthetic biology to develop crop yield improvement for Camelina for use in the materials, fuel and food sectors. The recent announcement brings total funding to the startup to $125.4mn.
RipeLocker announces $3.1mn received in recent funding round [US Securities and Exchange Commission]
- RipeLocker is an AgTech company based in Washington, USA that develops containers designed to extend the life of perishables, directly impacting food waste. The recent announcement brings total funding to the startup to $18.8mn.
- Pioneering UK-based bio-tech business Clean Food Group has announced a further £2.3 million in funding to accelerate the commercialization of its sustainable oils and fats technology. International investment has come from industrial food specialists Doehler Group and Alianza Team as the global food industry looks to invest in healthier and more sustainable food choices for future generations.
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