Climate Investment Newsletter 4/10 - 4/16
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Individual Deals and Market Watch
Amundi launches first just transition for climate strategy [Scoop World]
- Amundi, the leading European asset manager, has launched a new investment strategy within the Amundi Responsible Investing; Just Transition for Climate (“the Fund”). The Fund is an actively managed European fixed income portfolio with a quantifiable objective to support the energy transition while meeting criteria that consider social cohesion.
Impossible Foods reportedly preparing for IPO with US$10 billion valuation [Green Queen]
- The Silicon Valley startup is reportedly seeking a valuation of US$10 billion or more in its listing, a figure far higher than its US$4 billion valuation in 2020 but on par with the confidential IPO filing that fellow food tech Oatly has made, which is rumoured to be aiming for US$10 billion as well.
BlackRock raises $4.8 billion for climate investments [Smart Energy Decisions]
- GRP III is the third vintage of BlackRock’s Global Renewable Power fund series and the fifth Fund overall.
€1bn hydrogen infrastructure investment fund set for launch [Hydrogen Economist]
BlackRock, Temasek to raise billions for carbon-cutting startups [Bloomberg Green]
- BlackRock Inc. and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte. formed a new firm, Decarbonization Partners, to take stakes in startups that have the potential to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and meet the goal of zero-carbon emissions in three decades. They’re committing a total of $600 million to the effort, including $300 million of seed capital for a $1 billion first fund, and raising the rest from outside investors.
Ÿnsect raises $372 million for carbon negative, vertical insect farming [Impact Alpha]
- At full capacity, the farm will produce 100,000 tons of insect products annually.
EnergyNest secures €110m investment for thermal battery boost [Climate Action]
- Infracapital will be the largest shareholder in the business. Following significant growth and international expansion of the Norwegian technology company, Infracapital has taken the opportunity to invest in the ThermalBattery™ leader in what has been evaluated to be a €300+ billion market.
JPMorgan sees Asia’s sustainability funds doubling in the coming year [CNBC]
- Sustainability funds doubled in 2020 — and are set to double in Asia again, according to JPMorgan’s head of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research.
Macro Commitments
JPMorgan pledges $2.5 trillion over the next decade toward climate change [CNBC]
- Within the initiative, $1 trillion is earmarked for green projects, including renewable energy and clean technologies that are focused on speeding the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Bank of America commits $1trn to global sustainability initiatives [Edie]
- Morgan Stanley announced an updated commitment to mobilize $750 billion to support low-carbon solutions by 2030, following its initial commitment of $250 billion announced in 2018, representing a three-fold increase.
Africa seeks $25 billion for climate adaptation, green recovery [Bloomberg Green]
- The continent most vulnerable to environmental shifts has already secured $12.5 billion from the African Development Bank for a newly launched Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program and expects to secure the balance at the next two United Nations Climate Change Conferences, Patrick Verkooijen, chief executive officer of the Global Center on Adaptation, said in an interview.
Scatec to invest $11.8 bln in renewable energy in the next 4 years [Energy World]
Nestlé trumpets its green credentials as shareholders approve $3.5 billion net-zero plan [Fortune]
- In order to decarbonize, Nestlé will have to rework its entire supply chain which currently produces 95% of its emissions. It plans to address the remaining 5% by making its operations more sustainable by using renewable energy and modifying its product portfolio to include environmentally friendly offerings.
Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien to cut greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2030 [Reuters]
- Canada’s Nutrien Ltd, the world’s largest fertilizer producer by capacity, said on Thursday it aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% by 2030, in a plan costing the company up to $700 million.
Dutch earmark $400 mln for green hydrogen development [Reuters]
- The money, part of a 20 billion euro fund the government announced last year to strengthen the Dutch economy, will finance projects aimed at stimulating the production of green hydrogen, and finding ways to use the fuel in industry.
Apple creates $200-mln forestry fund with eye toward decarbonisation goal
Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research
Carbon Mapper launches satellite program to pinpoint methane and CO2 super emitters [Planet]
- Carbon Mapper, a new nonprofit organization, and its partners – the State of California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL), Planet, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University (ASU), High Tide Foundation and RMI – announced a pioneering program to help improve understanding of and accelerate reductions in global methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
New study puts a dollar figure on protection from coral reefs [Bloomberg Green]
- Individual reefs off of Hawaii and Florida do particularly valuable duty, the study estimated. A little over 100 kilometers of these reefs provide more than $10 million of flood protection per kilometer of reef. The most valuable, situated off of Honolulu, provides $154.3 million in protection each year alone, while another half-dozen block more than $50 million in flood damage a piece.
- One of the world's first zero emissions Allam-Fetvedt cycle power plants, the Broadwing Clean Energy Complex, is poised to be built in Illinois, generating 280 MW of clean power to help decarbonize the industrial, transport, and electricity sectors. 8 Rivers Capital, LLC (8 Rivers) and ADM announced that they have agreed in principle to locate the Broadwing facility adjacent to ADM's processing complex in Decatur, storing captured carbon safely a mile and a half underground via ADM's proven carbon capture and storage system.
China 2021 AgriFood startup investment report [AgFunder]
- VC investment levels sank 50% in China compared to 2019, agrifood startup investing increased 66.1% year-on-year, next to a 34.5% rise globally.
Over half of world’s largest companies won’t make net-zero goal by 2050, report finds [Green Queen]
- A new study has found that more than half are not making carbon neutral changes fast enough, putting their net-zero by 2050 goals in jeopardy. The new report, titled Zeronomics and released by banking giant Standard Chartered, tracked the senior leadership of 250 global firms and 100 investment specialists, says that most companies are still delaying significant action until after 2030, making the next few years a “lost decade” in terms of progress.
Hydrogen and fuel cell economy could support millions of jobs by 2050 [Cision]
- A McKinsey report found that by 2050, the U.S. hydrogen industry could generate an estimated $750 billion per year in revenue and support 3.4 million jobs. It also highlights that hydrogen offers solutions to tough climate challenges that other forms of energy are unable to tackle. Clean hydrogen holds immense potential as an alternative fuel and industrial feedstock for industries that are difficult to decarbonize using other energy sources.
- The battery leap claimed by Singh and his team promises to extend the range of electric cars by as much as 50% over today’s lithium-ion technology, while reducing charge time for a long drive to just 15 minutes. Investors swept up by Wall Street’s mania for special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, seem to particularly prize battery-related startups without profits. QuantumScape’s claims are now worth about $20 billion.
- To lower and ultimately eliminate its climate impact, maritime transport needs to abandon the use of fossil-based bunker fuels and turn toward ‘zero-carbon bunker fuels’, namely shipping fuels which emit zero or at most very low greenhouse (GHG) emissions across their lifecycles. The first report, “The Potential of Zero-Carbon Bunker Fuels in Developing Countries”, identifies two alternative fuels – ammonia and hydrogen – as the most promising zero-carbon bunker fuels for shipping at present
- For the past three years, the Solar Impulse Foundation has evaluated and selected a broad range of more than 1000 technology innovations designed to combat climate change in a financially profitable way. These solutions are available now to help meet the urgent climate goals set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
New Zealand introduces climate change law for financial firms in world first [Reuters]
- New Zealand has become the first country to introduce a law that will require banks, insurers and investment managers to report the impacts of climate change on their business, minister for climate change James Shaw said on Tuesday, April 13th.
- The We Mean Business coalition ($3tn AUM) released an open letter to President Biden which urged the administration to adopt a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.
Deploying bioenergy with CCS could save UK £4.5bn, Drax claims [Business Green]
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