Climate Investment Newsletter 2/12 - 2/18

Individual Deals and Market Watch

Verizon fully allocates third $1 billion green bond [Verizon]

• Verizon issued its Green Bond Impact Report, outlining the full allocation of the nearly $1 billion of net proceeds from its third green bond, which was issued in September 2021 under an updated Green Financing Framework that included new underwriter selection criteria focused on diversity and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

MetLife Investment Management provides financing for $625 million timberland transaction [Insurance News Net]

• MetLife Investment Management (MIM), the institutional asset management business of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), announced today that it has placed long-term, first mortgage loans secured by approximately 832,000 acres of timberland and timber across the Southeastern United States. The financing allows Tamarack Timberlands LLC, which is owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and whose assets are managed by Resource Management Service, LLC, to complete a $625 million redemption transaction and assume direct ownership of its timberland assets in the U.S. South.

Folksam Group invests in SEK 4 billion ($426mln) World Bank green bond [Mirage]

• The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, Aaa/AAA) issued a SEK green bond due August 2028, raising SEK 4 billion. The Folksam Group was the sole investor in the transaction. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) was the sole lead manager for this transaction.

Longwood Gardens’ $250 million renovation taps increasingly popular ‘green’ bonds [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

• Longwood Gardens’ $250 million renovation is being funded through a combination of grants, endowment money, and a tax-exempt “green” bond issue for $200 million in 2021.

Hy2gen nets EUR 200m for green hydrogen fuel production [Renewables Now]

• German green hydrogen plant developer Hy2gen AG has raised EUR 200 million (USD 227.4m) from investors including Technip Energies (EPA:TE), with the aim of accelerating the development of hydrogen-based fuel (e-fuel) production facilities in Europe and elsewhere.

Prysmian secures land for USD-200m subsea cable factory in Massachusetts [Renewables Now]

• Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian SpA (BIT:PRY) has struck a land acquisition deal in Somerset, Massachusetts, where it will build a subsea transmission cable factory to serve the US offshore wind industry.

Canadian firms seek $200m to grow country’s plant-based industry [Vegconomist]

• A group of Canadian investment and protein firms is looking to raise $200 million in equity capital to finance the next generation of plant-based food processors, according to Real Agriculture.

KoBold Metals raises $192.5 million to use AI to find battery minerals [Wall Street Journal]

• KoBold Metals, a startup backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures that aims to use artificial intelligence to find metals needed for the electric-vehicle boom, raised $192.5 million in its latest financing round, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Fred Olsen Windcarrier kicks off EUR-150m IPO in Oslo [Renewables Now]

• Offshore wind turbine installation company Fred. Olsen Windcarrier ASA (FOWIC) is launching its initial public offering (IPO) in Oslo, seeking to raise NOK 1.5 billion (USD 168.2m/EUR 148.6m) through a retail and institutional placement.

SWEN Capital Partners’ Blue Ocean Fund reaches €95 million milestone [IFA Magazine]

• SWEN Capital Partners, a provider of unlisted sustainable investment solutions, has raised a further €43 million from institutional investors globally for its Blue Ocean Fund in its latest funding round. The fund now stands at €95 million, making it one of the leading venture capitalist funds worldwide dedicated to ocean health. Launched less than 6 months ago, the Fund is well on track to reach its goal of €120 million this year.

Next Gen Foods raises “Biggest Ever” $100m series A from investors including Paul McCartney [Vegconomist]

• Next Gen Foods, makers of TiNDLE vegan chicken, has announced a $100 million Series A round claiming it to be the largest Series A to date for a plant-based meat company, with new investors in the round including Sir Paul McCartney. The news comes as TiNDLE becomes available at a range of iconic restaurants across the US.

Macro Commitments

DOE to put USD 2.91bn into US battery manufacturing, recycling projects [Renewables Now]

• The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced two funding opportunities aimed at providing USD 2.91 billion (EUR 2.57bn) to the domestic battery manufacturing and recycling sector to support the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storages systems.

In a first, Hong Kong to issue green bonds worth US$768 million to city’s retail investors [South China Morning Post]

• Hong Kong will issue retail green bonds worth up to HK$6 billion (US$768.8 million) beginning March 1, allowing residents to participate in the sustainable development of the city, the government said.

Engie and AXA have agreed to back a sustainable agro-forestry startup through $500 million of investment and carbon credit offtake agreements [Bloomberg]

EIB, Credit Mutuel Arkea seal EUR-400m renewables financing package [Renewables Now]

• The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Credit Mutuel Arkea have signed a EUR-400-million (USD 452m) renewable energy financing package for projects in France and other EU Member States, it was announced last week.

Ampyr Solar Europe agrees EUR 400m loan to develop 2 GW of solar [Renewables Now]

• Ampyr Solar Europe (ASE) said it has secured a EUR-400-million (USD 453.79m) loan from CarVal Investors to deploy more than 2 GW of solar power across Europe by 2025 with a focus on Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Mayor of London issues £90m green bond programme to unlock £500m to combat energy crisis [edie]

• The funding would be spent on projects that improve the energy efficiency of social housing and public buildings, as well as local energy projects that integrate, solar and low-carbon heating.

Billions of public and private funds pledged for marine restoration [Bolly Inside]

• As the One Ocean Summit came to a close late last week, European public banks pledged €4bn of ocean finance by 2025 and a major new private-sector coalition was formed with the aim of leveraging increased investment in marine conservation and restoration projects.

Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research, Climate Science

Inaction on climate change could cost the US economy $14.5 trillion by 2070, report [The Financial]

• A new report released from the Deloitte Economics Institute shows that the United States economy could gain $3 trillion if it rapidly decarbonizes over the next 50 years. This once-in-a-generation transformation could add nearly 1 million more jobs to the US economy by 2070, according to the report, “The Turning Point: A new economic climate in the United States.”

West megadrought worsens to driest in at least 1,200 years [ABC News]

• The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest in at least 1,200 years and is a worst-case climate change scenario playing out live, a new study finds.

Green bond sales to surge in Asia-Pacific as region lays out path to net-zero [S&P Global]

• Green bond sales in the Asia-Pacific region are likely to rise in 2022 as major economies lay out roadmaps to net-zero emissions and invest in projects to reduce carbon intensity.
• Major regional economies, including China, India and Australia, announced their net-zero targets in 2021. Their commitments to environment protection are already showing in green bonds issued last year. The region sold $185.22 billion of green debt in 2021, a 117% increase from 2020, according to Climate Bonds Initiative, or CBI, a U.K.-based green debt tracker.

“Farmer’s fintechs” are turning Europe’s farms into carbon sinks [sifted]

• Soils are a massive carbon sink, and given that nearly 40% of the EU is farmed land, there’s a huge opportunity to sequester large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. There hasn’t been much of a financial incentive for farmers to increase the carbon sink potential of their land.
• Copenhagen-based Agreena has just raised a $22.5m Series A for a platform where farmers can earn carbon credits for turning their land into carbon sinks.

Study suggests tropical forests can regenerate naturally — if we let them [Mongabay]

• A study carried out by scientists in 18 countries found tropical forests to be more resilient than once believed and largely capable of regenerating over just a few decades.
• The study analyzed 2,200 patches of forest in West Africa and Central and South America, including areas of the Atlantic and Amazon rainforests.

Global Soy Protein Market to Reach $17.1 billion by 2027 – ResearchAndMarkets.com [Vegconomist]

• Globally, the soy protein market was worth $11,519.8 million in 2021. The demand for plant-based proteins has been growing continuously for the past few years. Growing demand for plant-based proteins can be explained by the increase in the trend of adopting the vegan and vegetarian lifestyle and concerns related to health and the environment.