Climate Investment Newsletter 11/22 - 11/30
The Amazon Investor Coalition has joined forces with Capital for Climate to accelerate capital deployment to Amazon nature-based solutions.
Institutional investors and asset managers - Join Amazonia Rising online global summit and learn about six funds that are looking to deliver market rate returns alongside measurable biodiversity and community impact in the Amazon rainforest.
Learn more about the funds: https://amazoninvestor.org/facilitate-deal-flow/
Register for one or many sessions at the online Summit: www.AmazonInvestor.org/Summit
The Nature Tech Market. Necessary, Emergent, Dynamic
Capital for Climate, along with its partner, Nature4Climate, released a new report, "The Nature Tech Market: Necessary, Emergent, Dynamic”.
A first-of-its-kind landscape analysis of the nature tech market, this report illuminates a burgeoning sector that will help protect, manage, and restore nature.
Click below for the report!
The Nature Tech Market. Necessary, Emergent, Dynamic
Individual Deals and Market Watch
Amundi downgrades ESG funds as sector faces $85 billion hit [VettaFi]
- Europe’s largest asset manager is reclassifying almost all of its range of funds listed under the EU’s top ESG category, known as Article 9, a spokesperson for the asset manager told Bloomberg. Instead, the funds will be classified as Article 8, the spokesperson said, referring to the EU’s less stringent environmental, social and governance fund class. The decision reflects “a conservative approach” as Amundi tries to adapt to the EU’s evolving regulatory environment, the person said.
Saudi power firm signs $7 bln agreement to develop green hydrogen in Thailand [Carbon Pulse]
California funds $3.6 Billion for zero-emission vehicles and chargers [Smart Energy Decisions]
- The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a $2.6 billion investment plan to support a wide range of ZEV projects, with 70% of the funds directed to disadvantaged and low-income communities – the state’s largest-ever investment in the equitable expansion of clean transportation.
SSE offloads £1.5bn stake in energy transmission network [The Times UK]
- SSE, the FTSE 100 energy group, has agreed to sell a minority holding in SSEN Transmission, its energy transmission network, to a Canadian pension fund for almost £1.5 billion.
U.S. grants $1.1 bln to keep Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open [Reuters]
- The Biden administration said it has approved conditional funding of up to $1.1 billion to prevent the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California, as part of its effort to fight climate change.
AMEA Power unveils USD-1.1bn fin close for Egyptian solar, wind projects [Renewables Now]
- Dubai-based AMEA Power LLC said that it reached the financial close for a gigawatt of renewable energy projects in Egypt representing an investment of USD 1.1 billion (EUR 1.06bn).
Berkshire Unit sells $1.1 billion in rare 31-year green bond [yahoo]
- Power utility PacifiCorp sold $1.1 billion of environmentally-friendly bonds due in 2053, the longest maturity to be offered in the sustainable debt market from a US corporation this year.
€1bn EDF loan lays the groundwork for nuclear green bond [IFR]
- A €1bn loan to EDF is the first green loan to be earmarked for the nuclear power industry and shows the increasing renaissance of the nuclear industry as a source of clean energy and energy security.
TPG carbon credit company Rubicon Carbon raising $1 bln [Reuters]
- Rubicon Carbon, a carbon credit firm created by U.S. alternative asset manager TPG (TPG.O) to help companies offset their emissions, launched as a separate company and said it expected to raise $1 billion in capital.
- U.K.-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer Zapp Electric Vehicles is merging with a blank-check company to become publicly traded on the Nasdaq at a post-money valuation of $573 million.
SCOR natural capital loan fund targets €500m [Environmental Finance]
- SCOR Investment Partners (IP) has launched a corporate sustainability-linked loan fund focused on natural capital with a target of €500 million ($519 million).
British International Investment’s climate investments reach $500m this year [Pioneers Post]
- British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, has invested US$500m in climate finance since the beginning of 2022, it said this week.
- Fully backed by the Sadel Group – a private family office actively investing and operating in the real estate, cold storage, and energy sectors in the UK and Western Europe – the Isara team, led by Michael Rice, will execute their own separate acquisition and investment thesis.
Danish teachers’ pension fund to shed €269m of fossil equities [IPE]
- Lærernes Pension, the Danish teachers’ pension fund, is now selling around DKK2bn (€269m) of coal, oil and gas equities – more than 1% of its total assets – after tightening its criteria for exclusions of fossil fuel investments, the DKK146.1bn institution has announced.
State to capitalise Climate Fund by EUR 200 million [Finnish Govt]
- On 24 November 2022, the Government authorised the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment to make on its behalf a EUR 200 million gratuitous investment in the Climate Fund’s reserve of unrestricted equity. The capitalisation would occur in one instalment in 2022.
Proterra Asia closes $200m food fund [Environmental Finance]
- The fund, which is Proterra’s first Singapore-registered fund, invests in fast growing food sectors across the region. It is part of the Proterra Asia Food Strategy which looks at how to meet the growing demand from urban populations for safe, nutritious and sustainable food products.
Ford invests £150 million to boost EV parts output from UK plant [Bloomberg]
- Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC (“GREC” or “Greenbacker”), a leading climate-focused investment manager and independent power producer, announced that it completed the closing of a new $150.0 million senior secured sustainability revolving credit facility.
Swell raises $120M for virtual power plants to link solar and batteries [Canary]
- Getting networks of homes with rooftop solar and batteries to help balance the grid requires innovative tech and financing.
MassMutual Ventures launches $100 million climate tech fund [Smart Energy Decisions]
- The MMV Climate Tech Fund (CTF) will make investments in 15 to 20 technology companies that address the sources of climate change and provide solutions for managing its impact on individuals, businesses, and communities.
Macro Commitments
Rabobank sets impact targets for $100bn loan portfolio [Environmental Finance]
- Dutch firm Rabobank has set climate and social impact targets for its food and agriculture loan portfolio, which has an estimated size of €103 billion ($103 billion).
ANZ earmarks $67 billion to accelerate net zero transition [KFGO]
- Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AX) said it had earmarked A$100 billion ($67.63 billion) to help its customers lower carbon emissions by 2030, as it looks to accelerate its transition to net zero.
Enel to shed EUR 21bn of assets, reduce investments in 2023-2025 [Renewables Now]
- The group unveiled its 2023-2025 strategic plan, saying that it will put to work EUR 37 billion of investments to focus its spending on integrated and value-added services, digital grids, sustainable power generation and confine its activities to key countries -- Italy, Spain, the United States, Brazil, Chile and Colombia.
DOE allocates $13 billion to modernize the U.S. power grid [Smart Energy Decisions]
- The Biden-Harris Administration announced $13 billion in new financing opportunities for expanding and modernizing the nation’s electric grid as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Mazda unveils $11 bln EV spending plan, considers investing in battery production [Reuters]
- The company also raised its sales target for electric vehicles (EVs) to up to 40% of its total global sales by 2030, as automakers worldwide spend billions of dollars to ramp up battery and EV production in the face of tougher environmental regulations.
Vietnam to seal $11bn funding deal for off-coal transition [Energy Mix]
- Odds are that the Southeast Asian country will soon follow Indonesia and South Africa in obtaining a climate financing package to help it kick coal and boost the rollout of renewable energy sources, reports Bloomberg. Vietnam and donor countries—led by the European Union and the United Kingdom—are expected to announce a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) deal at the EU-ASEAN summit in Brussels this December.
U.S. Department of State commits up to $9 billion to restore forests [wbcsd]
- The United States intends to dedicate up to $9 billion of international climate funding through 2030 to help restore and preserve forests, subject to Congressional appropriations. As part of this effort, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Change announced last November it was launching the Forest Investor Club, a network of public and private financial institutions and investors, committed to accelerating investments in forest and nature.
China’s Hebei to allocate 50 bln yuan ($7bln) for climate financing projects [Carbon Pulse]
COP27: African cities water fund aims to raise $5bn [Environmental Finance]
- A blended finance fund focused on promoting 'water resilience' in African cities has launched with the aim to raise $5 billion by 2032.
Spain's Endesa to invest EUR 4.3bn in renewables in 2023-2025 [Renewables Now]
- Spanish utility Endesa SA (BME:ELE) is prepared to invest up to EUR 8.6 billion (USD 8.9bn) in 2023-2025 and dedicate half of that amount to grow its renewables capacity in the Iberian Peninsula, the group announced on Wednesday in the presentation of the three-year strategic plan.
LG Chem plans $3bn EV battery material plant in Tennessee [Green Car Reports]
- According to LG, the plant will be the largest of its kind in the U.S., and once running at capacity it will be able to produce 120,000 tons of the cathode battery material—enough to make batteries for 1.2 million EVs annually, assuming a 310-mile range per vehicle.
Canada to invest C$1.6 bln ($1.2 bln) in first national climate adaptation strategy [Reuters]
- Canada published its first ever national climate adaptation strategy on Thursday, including C$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) in new federal funding commitments to help protect communities against the increasing impacts of global warming.
Morgan Stanley IM launches $1 bln climate-focused private equity strategy [Reuters]
- Morgan Stanley Investment Management said it has launched a new $1 billion private equity strategy to invest in companies which will remove 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere by 2050 or prevent that amount entering the atmosphere.
Switzerland to provide CHF 600m of solar subsidies in 2023 [Renewables Now]
- Switzerland will make CHF 600 million (USD 636.36m/EUR 611.12m) in subsidies available in 2023 to support the expansion of solar power across the country after a projected record photovoltaics (PV) deployment this year.
Rio Tinto to invest $600 mln more in renewable energy assets [Reuters]
- Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AX) plans to invest a further $600 million in renewable energy assets in the iron ore-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia, the miner said as part of its aim to halve its carbon emissions by 2030.
- Following decades of general cooperation between the two organizations, the EIB has agreed to commit €500 million (US$515.43 million) in financing to support IFAD in its work to strengthen food security and agricultural investments in the world’s emerging and developing countries.
IDB approves $500 mln loan to Argentina to fight climate change [Reuters]
- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a $500 million credit line to Argentina to mitigate the impacts of climate change, its Economy Ministry said.
Essar Oil UK unveils plans for £360m carbon capture plant at Stanlow refinery [Business Green]
Chinese investor plans EUR-100m battery recycling plant in Germany [Renewables Now]
- Chinese company Botree Cycling (Ltd.) is planning to invest up to EUR 100 million (USD 104.13m) to build a plant for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries in a town in northeast Germany.
Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research, Climate Science
COP27 Says $4 Trillion Renewable Funding Needed Annually for Net Zero by 2050 [Mercom India]
Nature needs $384 billion annually by 2025, U.N. says [Reuters]
- Investments into protecting and better managing the world's ecosystems need to reach $384 billion a year by 2025, more than double their current levels, to guard against the threats of climate change and loss of natural resources, the U.N.'s environment watchdog said.
Quarter of VC funding goes to climate tech [gadget]
- Climate tech funding represented more than a quarter of venture capital investment in 2022 so far, and has been in the upper half of the 20-30% range since the start of 2018, according to PwC’s new State of Climate Tech 2022 report.
Carbon credit trading platform market worth $200.6 billion by 2027 [yahoo]
- Carbon Credit Trading Platform Market is projected to grow from USD 67.3 billion in 2022 to USD 200.6 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 24.4% according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets™. The demand for quality carbon credit trading platforms is at an all-time high due to the strong eagerness of industries and businesses to act on climate change and reduce global warming. The demand for carbon credits is expected to increase significantly in the coming years.
Green pathways present a $1.6-trn investment window: World Bank report [Business Standard]
- Keeping spaces cool using alternative and innovative energy-efficient technologies can open up an investment opportunity of $1.6 trillion by 2040 in India, says a report released by the World Bank.
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