Net Zero Investor 7/3 - 7/9

We’re Hiring Head of Climate Funds Research and Evaluation

• Build and maintain the definitive digital resource on funds, vehicles, large projects, prizes and incubators that are investing (or driving investment) in climate solutions aligned to science-based roadmaps to net zero.

Individual Deals and Market Watch

EU targets finance for $415-billion-a-year green transition [Bloomberg Green]

• The Sustainable Finance Strategy marks a step up in the bloc’s efforts to put guardrails around low carbon transition finance and combat “greenwashing,” It seeks to regulate the 350 billion euros-a-year ($415 billion) it needs in investment. It comes a week ahead of the Commission’s Fit for 55 package setting out a framework for how and what to achieve the EU’s emissions-cutting goal of at least 55% by 2030 from 1990 levels.
• This in addition to the EU Green Finance Taxonomy, and Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations.

Heliogen to go public via USD-2bn blank-check merger [Renewables Now]

• Heliogen, a California-based developer of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled concentrated solar technology, is set to go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Athena Technology Acquisition Corp (NYSE:ATHN).  What is unusual about this deal is that concentrated solar technology has faced challenges accessing capital since the costs of its cousin PV, have declined so fast.
• Expect to see a lot of similar deals, as a couple of dozen green SPACs have to put their cash to work in the next 24 months.

Salesforce Issues First Sustainability Bond for $1 Billion [Smart Energy Decisions]

• The bond was issued as part of an $8 billion underwritten public offering of senior notes. The eligible “green” projects that the proceeds could be used for include Technology for Climate Action, Green Buildings, Renewable Energy, Pollution Prevention & Control, Nature-Based Solutions and Sustainable Water Management.

Hongkong Land prices US$500m green bonds due 2031 at 2.25% [Banking & Finance]

• The bond falls under the group’s medium-term notes programme and is expected to be rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service and A by Standard & Poor's. The issuer of the bond is the group’s subsidiary - The Hongkong Land Finance (Cayman Islands) Company.

Property giant Bruntwood secures £276m climate-focused funding boost [Business Live]

• Commercial property giant Bruntwood has secured a £276m climate-focused funding boost from Aviva Investors.
• The 15-year sustainable-linked loan facility will allow the company to consolidate and extend the maturity of its long-term funding facilities until 2036 by refinancing an existing credit line and extending the term of the existing £121m Aviva facility originally due to mature in 2031.

HydrogenOne Capital Growth to pursue GBP-250m IPO in London [Renewables Now]

• HydrogenOne Capital Growth Plc (HGEN), a clean hydrogen-dedicated investment fund, targets raising GBP 250 million (USD 346m/EUR 292m) in an initial public offering (IPO) in London.

Climate Finance Partnership raises US$250 million at first close to invest in emerging market climate infrastructure [Business Wire]

• BlackRock has secured more than US$250 million in commitments from a consortium of global institutional investors, governments and philanthropies for the Climate Finance Partnership (CFP), a flagship blended finance vehicle focused on investing in climate infrastructure across emerging markets in order to accelerate the global transition to a low carbon economy. Conceived at the One Planet Summit in September 2018 under the leadership of French President Emmanuel Macron, CFP showcases the potential for the public, philanthropic and private sectors to work together to mobilize significant investment into climate infrastructure that can deliver positive environmental and social impact and allow for attractive risk-adjusted returns.

Lithuania to invest EUR 242m in renewables, storage under  EUR 2.2bnrecovery plan [Renewables Now]

• The European Commission on Friday approved Lithuania's EUR-2.2-billion (USD 2.6bn) recovery and resilience plan that includes reforms and investments to develop renewables and energy storage.

Portugal's Greenvolt could raise up to EUR 205m from IPO, capital hike [Renewables Now]

• Portuguese biomass energy company Greenvolt – Energias Renovaveis SA will seek to raise up to EUR 150 million (USD 177.7m) from a planned initial public offering (IPO) on Euronext Lisbon next week.  Greenvolt has 88MW of biomass power capacity spread across five plants.  Interestingly, proceeds of the IPO are going to tie up a V-Ridium’s 2800MW projects pipeline of wind and solar in Greece and Poland.

Vortex Energy launches 4th fund with USD-200m first close [Renewables Now]

• PE firm EFG Hermes is launching its fourth renewables fund, Vortex Energy IV, and announced it has achieved a first close of USD 200 million (EUR 169m) for the vehicle.

Enel, Rostov govt agree on USD-136m wind project investment [Renewables Now]

• Enel Russia (MCX:ENRU), a unit of Italian energy giant Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL), has entered into a cooperation agreement with the government of Russia’s Rostov region for the potential development of a RUB-10-billion (USD 136m/EUR 115m) wind project.
• For those who may not know, Enel is one of the top renewables asset consolidators in the world and operates in Europe, the Americas and Asia.  

India’s Fourth Partner Energy raises $125M from Norfund and The Rise Fund [YourStory]

• This $100 million marks Norfund’s maiden investment into India’s leading solar energy company, while The Rise Fund is investing an additional $25 million into Fourth Partner Energy, following its $70 million investment in July 2018.  
• Fourth Partner aims for 3800MW by 2025 and a leadership presence in storage and EV infrastructure.
• Norfund is also partnered with Enel in India and is a founding member of the Bloomberg catalyzed Climate Finance Leadership Initiative aimed at scaling capital into emerging markets low carbon transition.

Israel’s Aleph Farms to expand cell-based operations globally after $105M Series B [Green Queen]

• Cellular agriculture startup Aleph Farms has announced a US$105 million Series B funding round today led by L Catterton’s Growth Fund. The Israeli cultivated meat makers will use the capital to scale up its manufacturing capabilities. In addition, the company says it will expand its operations internationally ahead of its initial market launch in 2022.

€3.6trn investor coalition launches Just Transition engagement initiative [Responsible Investor]

• Finance for Tomorrow, the French-government backed organisation, has today launched a €3.6trn Just Transition engagement coalition.
• The concept of a just transition - action to address the impact that decarbonisation will have on workers and communities in carbon-intensive sectors - is steadily climbing up the political and financial agenda, as countries work on plans to achieve Net Zero.

Macro Commitments

Stellantis [once known as Fiat Chrysler + Peugot]  to invest more than €30bn in electric vehicles [FT]

• Stellantis will spend more than €30bn over the next four years developing electric cars, underlining the investment the auto industry is having to make as combustion engines are phased out.  
• Prior to this we were tracking roughly $300 billion of automotive OEM commitments to EV drivetrain transition.  VW, Ford, GM, Mercedes are going electric as quickly as they can. Would not have expected the dominos to fall this fast, but they are.

Qair Brasil signs pact for USD-7bn offshore wind-based H2 project in Ceara [Renewables Now]

• Qair Brasil, a subsidiary of French company Qair Internacional, intends to invest USD 6.95 billion (EUR 5.88bn) to develop a huge green hydrogen project in Brazil’s Ceara state, supplied by offshore wind power.

Fortescue plans USD-6bn green hydrogen project at Brazil's Pecem port [Renewables Now]

• The subsidiary of iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) will invest USD 6 billion (EUR 5bn) to build the facility. The goal is to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, the local government said.

Norway to spend $1.2 bln on renewable projects in developing nations [Reuters]

• Norway will allocate 10 billion crowns ($1.16 billion) over five years towards renewable energy investments in developing countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the government said on Wednesday, and urged private investors to work with it.

BlackRock to launch ($500 mln) green infrastructure fund in Asia [Nikkei Asia]

• U.S. investment giant BlackRock will launch a 55 billion yen ($500 million) fund aimed at developing infrastructure for the transportation of green energy in emerging markets, including renewable energy, Nikkei has learned.

Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research, Climate Science

World Bank: Protecting nature could avert global economic losses of $2.7 Trillion per year [Climate Action]

• A new World Bank report has estimated that the collapse of select ecosystem services provided by nature could result in a decline in global GDP of $2.7 trillion annually by 2030.
• The report highlights that Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia would suffer the most relative contraction of real GDP due to a collapse of ecosystem services by 2030: 9.7 percent annually and 6.5 percent, respectively. This is due to a reliance on pollinated crops and, in the case of Sub-Saharan Africa on forest products, as well as a limited ability to switch to other production and consumption options that would be less affected.

Nikola, Lordstown, Fisker: SPACs have already raised $7.5 billion for EV-related startups [Green Car Reports]

• Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have already raised $7.5 billion for more than a dozen EV-related startups, but with relatively little to show for it, according to new data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

IIF sees huge potential for voluntary carbon credits, predicts $100 billion a year market by 2050 [CNBC]

• The Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets this week published the second phase of its blueprint on creating a large-scale and transparent carbon credit trading market.
• The private sector-led initiative, launched by former governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney last year, believes a broad-based carbon market is “critical” in order to limit the planet’s temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — a crucial global target outlined in the Paris Agreement.
• Global banks to launch voluntary carbon offset market platform [Nasdaq]
• Four global banks will next month launch a pilot platform for buying and selling voluntary carbon credits, they said on Wednesday, the latest sign of growing interest from the financial community in the burgeoning carbon offset market.
  A private sector task force on scaling up the voluntary carbon market said earlier this year the market will need to grow 15-fold to meet goals set under the Paris climate agreement and could be worth $5-$50 billion by 2030.

Global wind and solar power capacity grew at record rate in 2020 [The Guardian]

• The report found that global wind and solar power capacity grew by 238GW in 2020, more than five times greater than the UK’s total renewable energy capacity. The increase was mainly driven by China, which accounted for roughly half of the global increase in wind and solar energy production capacity, but even controlling for that 2020 was a record year for building wind and solar farms.

Investment industry at ‘tipping point’ as $43tn in funds commit to net zero [FT]

• The investment industry has reached a “tipping point”, with almost half the world’s assets under management now pledged to meet climate change goals in a shift that could have huge corporate implications.

Carbon prices must treble by 2030, $6.6trn investor coalition urges [Edie]