Climate Investment Newsletter 1/29 - 2/4

Individual Deals and Market Watch

Global carbon market value soars more than 2.5 times in 2021 to €760 bln –analysts [Carbon Pulse]

• The value of traded global markets for carbon dioxide (CO2) permits grew by 164% to a record 760 billion euros ($851 billion) last year, analysts at Refinitiv said. [Reuters]

China inks $8 bln nuclear power plant deal in Argentina [Reuters]

• State-owned China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) has signed a contract in Argentina to build the $8 billion Atucha III nuclear power plant using China's Hualong One technology, reviving a deal that had been stalled for years.

Sonoco issues USD 1.2 billion of green bonds [ICLG.com]

• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted as legal adviser to Sonoco on the transaction, while JP Morgan Securities was joint book-running manager and sustainability structuring agent, with Wells Fargo Securities serving as joint-book running manager.

SEB raises EUR1 bln through green bond issue [MarketWatch]

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB said that it has raised 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) through the issuance of a green bond that will be used to finance green loans, in accordance with SEB's updated framework for green bonds.

Stem finalises USD-695m sale of solar software co AlsoEnergy [Renewables Now]

• Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven energy storage company Stem Inc (NYSE:STEM) has wrapped up its USD-695-million (EUR 614m) acquisition of solar asset management software developer Also Energy Holdings Inc.

Green Trust, Enercon unveil plan for 500 mln euro wind farm in Croatia – president's office [Renewables Now]

• Dutch wind energy company Green Trust and German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon are preparing jointly a project to develop a 500 million euro ($563 million) wind farm in Croatia, the Croatian president's office said.

Plenty closes $400m Series E financing: 'The indoor farming sector is at an exciting inflection point' [Food Navigator USA]

• Indoor farming technology company Plenty Unlimited has closed a $400m Series E financing round to accelerate the growth of its vertical, scalable indoor farming model.

QuadReal announces closing of $400 million green bond senior note offering [GlobeNewsWire]

• QuadReal Property Group (“QuadReal”) announced green bond issuance of $400 million of 2.551% Series 5 Senior Notes maturing June 24, 2026 (the “Senior Notes”) issued by BCI QuadReal Realty (“BQR”).

100% Of FarmTogether's portfolio ($200m AUM) achieves sustainability certification [Yahoo Finance]

• FarmTogether, a fast-growing farmland investment manager powered by cutting-edge tech, today announced that its full portfolio – nearing $200M AUM – has been certified through Leading Harvest's Farmland Management Standard, an innovative certification aimed at driving agriculture toward sustainable practices at a large scale across the US.

Unovis Asset Management closes second alt protein venture fund oversubscribed at $164m [Global Ag Investing]

• Global boutique investor Unovis Asset Management is quickly becoming a leader in the alt protein investment space. Its first fund, New Crop Capital Trust, which was launched in 2015, deployed $45 million across 41 early-stage plant-based, fermented, and cultured protein companies on four continents.

Superpedestrian raises $125m in funding [Finsmes]

• Superpedestrian, a Boston, MA-based transportation robotics company and provider of the LINK e-scooter, closed $125m debt and equity capital round.

Alexandria Venture Investments commits over $100m to climate change technology related investments in 2021 [Cision]

• Alexandria Venture Investments has been actively investing in innovative climate technology companies for over a decade as part of its strategic investments in disruptive companies that are developing transformative technologies and platforms to meaningfully advance human health. In an acceleration of its mission-critical investment efforts in the climate technology sector.

HSBC invests US$100 million in Bill Gates-led green tech programme to support decarbonisation of heavy polluting sectors [South China Morning Post]

• HSBC, which has set itself the goal of net-zero carbon emissions in its loans portfolio by 2050, has joined a global programme to accelerate the development of green technologies with a US$100 million investment.

Macro Commitments

Scottish Widows pledges £25bn of low-carbon investment by 2025 on road to net-zero [edie]

• Pensions and insurance giant Scottish Widows has bolstered its 2050 net-zero target with a new climate action plan, published ahead of the UK Government's requirement for all financial firms to disclose how they are approaching the transition.

Ford will spend up to $20 billion more in shift to electric vehicles [The Verge]

• Ford will spend as much as $20 billion to reorganize its business for the electric future, according to Bloomberg. The automaker is also mulling whether to spin off some of its EV business as a special acquisition company (SPAC) in order to attract more investment. Ford has previously stated that it would spend $30 billion on electric and autonomous vehicle development by 2025.

California Governor increases EV adoption package to $10 billion [Smart Energy Decisions]

• The governor first announced in Sept. 2020 his ambition for California to phase out gas-powered cars by 2035. Building on a $3.9 billion investment committed last year, this new proposal would add another $6.1 billion to support low-income adoption and pay for the infrastructure needed to get the state on target.

Germany adds 5 billion euros to funding for energy-saving houses [Reuters]

• Germany is adding 5 billion euros ($5.63 billion) in subsidies to a plan to promote energy-saving buildings, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said, resuming the scheme it stopped last month after receiving a flood of costly applications.

India sets aside USD 2.6bn of additional funds for solar manufacturing [Renewables Now]

• India has set aside a further INR 195 billion (USD 2.6bn/EUR 2.3bn) to support the domestic manufacturing of solar modules, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, while unveiling the budget for the fiscal year 2022/23.

CIP launches green debt fund seeking to raise EUR 1bn [Renewables Now]

• Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) said it is launching its first debt fund targeting to raise EUR 1 billion (USD 1.13bn) to support renewable energy projects globally.

BlackRock partnership commits $650 million to charging infrastructure for electric trucks [Impact Alpha]

• The joint venture between BlackRock, German commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck and U.S. electric utility NextEra Energy aims to start construction next year on a network of charging stations on freight routes along the U.S. east and west coasts, and in Texas.

Philippines plans $500 million green bond offering [Business World]

• The Philippines is eyeing a $500 million green bond offer this year to fund its climate change mitigation projects, the Finance chief said.

The Australian government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) launches $300 million funding for timber building construction [The Fifth Estate]

• The new program seeks to transform large-scale building construction in Australia, with the potential to cut construction-related emissions.

EIB to put up EUR 100m to co-finance wind, solar in Iberia [Renewables Now]

• The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement with alternative investment management firm Ben Oldman to offer financial products for the construction of some 430 MW of wind and solar PV projects in Spain and Portugal.

Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research, Climate Science

UN calls on G20 nations to close $165bn nature and climate investment gap [Business Green]

• A new report finds that annual spending on nature-based solutions needs to increase by 140 per cent, with special attention paid to investment in non-G20 countries

BNEF: global investment in low-carbon energy transition hit $755B in 2021; up 27% from 2020; electrified transport grew the fastest [Green Car Congress]

• In 2021, global investment in the low-carbon energy transition totaled $755 billion, up 27% from $595 billion in 2020 and just $264 billion in 2011, according to Energy Transition Investment Trends 2022, a new report published by research firm BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Fossil engines face extinction in Norway as EV sales hit record highs [Hindustan Times]

• Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) hit a new monthly record in Norway as nearly 84% of the almost 8,000 new passenger cars sold in the country in January were EVs, as per data from the Norwegian Information Council for Road Traffic. This indicates that the country is on track to reach its 2025 goal of eliminating sales of new fossil-fuel cars.

Voluntary carbon offsets market size [2022-2027] is projected to reach USD 700.5 million, with 11.7% CAGR [Yahoo]

• Global Voluntary Carbon Offsets Market 2022 research report study entails a thorough examination of the industry's future and current conditions. The study also breaks down market size, both in terms of volume and value, and market share, by geography.

First net zero guidance for private equity for GPs and LPs launched by IIGCC [IIGCC]

• IIGCC has developed a new private equity component for the Net Zero Investment Framework (NZIF) first published by the Paris Aligned Investment Initiative (PAII) in March 2021