Climate Investment Newsletter 11/28 - 12/4

Notable Headline of the Week

Carrier Global to reduce customer carbon footprint by one gigaton

• Carrier Global Corporation announce d Nov. 30 that it intends to reduce its customers’ carbon footprint by more than one gigaton and to be carbon neutral across its operations by 2030.

Individual Deals and Market Watch

$1.35 Billion Merger of Stem, Inc. and Star Peak Energy Transition Corp.

• Stem, Inc., a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven energy storage systems, and Star Peak Energy Transition Corp., (NYSE: STPK), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, announced Dec. 4th a definitive agreement for a business combination that will result in Stem becoming a public company.

FinecoBank partners with sustainable investing leader Robeco to expand fund offering

• FinecoBank today announces the expansion of its investment offerings with a series of funds from Robeco. Fineco customers will now have access to Robeco's extensive range of active investing products, including a number of products focused on the expanding sustainable investing space.

Carney calls for ‘$100bn a year’ global carbon offset market

• Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has thrown his weight behind efforts to create a global carbon offset market, calling it an “imperative” to help reduce emissions.

Bonds aimed at heavy corporate emitters set to roll out in 2021

• Transition bonds are being developed for fossil-fuel companies and other heavy corporate emitters, which have largely been shut out of a booming green market. So-called brown industries would have to use proceeds from the sales to fund their clean-energy transformation.

Sovereign Pacific's USD $500M Fund for The Caribbean Region

• Sovereign Pacific Capital Ltd., a Singapore based wealth and asset management organization, partners with Possibility Group Ltd., a Caribbean value creation organization, to establish a USD $500M Sovereign Pacific Fund for sustainable investments in St. Kitts & Nevis and the Caribbean region.

Macro Commitments

Uber, JetBlue, and other transportation leaders join The Climate Pledge

• Uber, JetBlue, Boom Supersonic, Rivian and Cabify announced Dec. 2 that Uber, JetBlue, and other transportation leaders join The Climate Pledgethey are the newest signatories of Amazon’s The Climate Pledge representing a growing commitment within the transportation sector to transitioning to a green economy.

Nestlé to spend €3bn in 5 years on climate measures

• The world’s largest foodmaker Nestlé is to spend €3bn in the next five years on measures to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, in the biggest financial commitment to “net zero” initiatives by a consumer goods group.

GIC joins investor group on climate change

• Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC has joined the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) and the Climate Action 100+ initiative, in a further boost to regional investor engagement on climate change.

UK sets ambitious new climate target ahead of UN Summit

• The UK Government has announced a new ambitious target to reduce the UK’s emissions by at least 68% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Frameworks and Case Studies

Financing for climate action is not catching up to the climate emergency

• The pace of climate change is accelerating: new records were set in 2020 for land and sea temperatures, Arctic ice shrinkage and acres lost to wildfires in the western U.S., according to the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization.

New emissions reporting standard addresses carbon footprint of lending and investment

• The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) announced Nov. 18 that it released the first global standard for measuring and reporting emissions associated with loans and investments.

Climate change costs taking increasing chunk off Canada's GDP growth: study

• Climate change costs are already taking an increasing bite out of Canada's economic growth and the country is falling behind other nations when it comes to planning for them, says federally funded research.

Canadian survey finds increased focus on green financing

• A new survey conducted in Canada found that 98% of issuers and investors are already factoring sustainable investing into their financial activities.

Reaching net zero to cost £3 trillion, says National Grid ESO

• Reaching net zero in the energy network will cost the UK £3 trillion, according to a new cost analysis from National Grid ESO.

BlackRock launches Aladdin Climate to support sustainable portfolios

• BlackRock has launched Aladdin Climate to help investors quantify climate risk and low-carbon opportunities relating to their portfolios, as the physical toll of climate change mounts and the global transition to net zero emissions accelerates.