Net Zero Investor 8/14 - 8/20

Individual Deals and Market Watch

Behind data center giant Equinix's $3.7 billion investment in green bonds [GreenBiz]

• Equinix, a leading data center real estate investment trust, announced that it is committed to becoming climate-neutral by 2030, the first in its industry to do so.
• The California-based company operates 230 data centers in 26 countries on five continents. That’s a lot of computing power, which requires a lot of energy. Equinix is aiming to lead on sustainability in the industry — in part with financing from green bonds.

Indian renewable energy developers raised $3.6 bn via green bonds from Jan-Jun [Mint]

• Indian renewable energy developers have issued green bonds worth ₹26,300 crore ($3.6 billion) in the first half of 2021 alone, beating previous one-year records, according to a study by CEEW Centre for Energy Finance (CEEW-CEF).

Alphabet allocates $3 billion from sustainability bond [Smart Energy Decisions]

• Google parent company Alphabet allocated $3.47 billion from the proceeds of a portfolio of sustainability bonds issued last year and announced a new target for Google to run on carbon-free energy 24/7, 365 days a year by 2030.
• The company first issued $5.75 billion in sustainability bonds in August 2020. Now, 61% of the proceeds have been allocated to new and ongoing environmental and social projects.

Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon Capital has raised $800 million to “keep unf*cking the planet” [Tech Crunch]

• Fast raise, Lowercarbon Capital was in market less than three months to secure one of the climate tech sector's largest pools of venture capital to date.

Nexamp secures $680 million [Cision]

• Nexamp, a leader in building tomorrow's energy infrastructure and reinventing how people interact with the electricity that powers their lives, has secured a $240 million equity investment led by Generate Capital. The company also recently raised $440 million in debt financing, bringing its total new funding to $680 million. The new funding will accelerate Nexamp's ability to offer a flexible range of decarbonization options for customers, expanding its position as a leading clean energy solutions provider.
• Nexamp develops, designs, builds and operates distributed solar and energy storage solutions. Driven by its mission to deliver an accessible and sustainable energy future for all.

India’s Azure Power issues dollar green bond of $414 million [Mercom India]

• Independent power producer Azure Power Global, announced the issuance of a dollar green bond of $414 million.
• The bonds will have a tenor of five years at a coupon of 3.575%. The issue marks the lowest ever coupon in the high-yield segment for any Indian business. Lower by 27.5 basis points from the lowest offering from any Indian renewable energy company to date, according to the company.

$2B valued Apeel raises a fresh $250M to accelerate innovation and reduce food chain waste [Vegconomist]

• Food freshness innovation company Apeel Sciences has announced a Series E funding raise of $250 million. Backed by Oprah and Katy Perry amongst others, Apeel’s biotechnology adds an extra plant-derived peel to the outside of produce allowing it to double or even triple its shelf life.
• Focused on reducing waste in the fresh food supply by creating longer-lasting produce, primarily in US, UK, and European markets, Apeel is recognized as a CNBC Disruptor 50 and one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies. The new funding brings the company’s total over $635 million, with a valuation over $2 billion dollars.

NuScale Power - (small scale nuclear)  raises $152m in strategic funding [Finsmes]

• Oregon-based NuScale Power raised $152M from a diverse base of strategic investors , closing out NuScale’s A-5 round  and bringing the company’s total funding year to date to approximately $192m. Backers included GS Energy, Korean Doosan Heavy Industry and Construction, IHI Corporation, Samsung C&T Corporation, engineering firm Sargent & Lundy and Sarens.
• The company has developed a new modular light water reactor nuclear power plant to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, and other process heat applications.

Encavis inks EUR-125m loan deal with Commerzbank [Renewables Now]

• German wind and solar farm operator Encavis AG (ETR:ECV) announced it has signed a sustainable revolving credit agreement for EUR 125 million (USD 147m) from a consortium led by Commerzbank AG.

BlackRock Real Assets to invest USD 100m in Korean solar developer [Renewables Now]

• BlackRock Real Assets announced it has agreed to buy an equity stake in Korean solar developer Brite Energy Partners (BEP), with plans to provide it with more than USD 100 million (EUR 85.3m) in capital over time.

Macro Commitments

India's £972bn infrastructure plan to boost economy and tackle climate change [Sky News]

• India is set to spend 100trn rupees (£972bn) on a national infrastructure plan to boost economic growth and help the country meet its climate goals.  Just about the same size as the Biden infrastructure plan, in an economy about 1/5th the size.
• Speaking as part of Independence Day celebrations in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the programme will "create job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of young people".

PNC commits $20 billion to environmental finance [Environment + Energy Leader]

• The PNC Financial Services Group announced it is committing $20 billion over five years in support of environmental finance.
• It includes the following pillars: Loans for green buildings, financing for renewable energy production and transmission, financing for zero and low emissions transportation, and other environmental/sustainability-linked bonds and loans which align to third-party frameworks such as the Green Bond Principles.

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal's $10 billion climate plan [GreenBiz]

• Steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal has announced plans to cut its carbon intensity by a quarter by 2030 from 2018 levels, backed by $10 billion investment over the next decade to help support its transition away from fossil fuels towards greener manufacturing technologies and clean energy sources.

Singapore’s NEA to issue US$2.2 billion green bonds [The Asset]

• Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) has launched a S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) multicurrency medium-term note (MTN) programme and green bond framework. Proceeds from the notes will be used to finance sustainable infrastructure development projects, including the Tuas Nexus Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF), NEA’s flagship waste management project.

Canada invests $796 million to collaborate with provinces, territories, and other partners to protect nature across the country [Markets Insider]

• The Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, announced as part of the Enhanced Nature Legacy up to $796 million in funding to support provinces and territories and other partners' actions to recover species at risk and protect and conserve lands and freshwater.
• Protecting natural capital stocks is an essential part of addressing the twin problems of biodiversity loss and global warming.

Blackstone to invest up to USD 350m in Array Technologies [Renewables Now]

• Private equity funds managed by Blackstone Energy Partners have committed to invest USD 350 million (EUR 299.6m) into US solar tracker maker Array Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:ARRY), with the option to invest more.

Novozymes enters alt-protein space with investment of 2Bn Danish Kroner ($315mn) [Vegconomist]

• Danish biotech and enzyme giant Novozymes has entered into a contract with an unnamed key player in the plant-based industry. As part of the contract, it will invest $315m into an alternative-protein production line in Nebraska.

Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research, Climate Science

China’s carbon market could have material impact by 2025 finds Schroders [Responsible Investor]

• Carbon markets are beginning to show signs of materially contributing to decarbonisation, with China’s new emissions trading system set to cut the country’s emissions by up to six billion tonnes a year by 2060, according to research from Schroders.
• In the latest iteration of its Climate Progress Dashboard, the asset manager claims that the long-term global warming trajectory has fallen for three consecutive quarters, driven primarily by increasing carbon prices.

UK government launches plan for a world-leading hydrogen economy [Gov.UK]

• The UK has launched its first-ever vision to kick start a world-leading hydrogen economy set to support over 9,000 UK jobs and unlock £4 billion investment by 2030.

July world's hottest month ever recorded [BBC News]

• The data shows that the combined land and ocean-surface temperature was 0.93C (1.68F) above the 20th Century average of 15.8C (60.4F).
• It is the highest temperature since record-keeping began 142 years ago. The previous record, set in July 2016, was equalled in 2019 and 2020.

Report predicts plant-based market will see “Explosive Growth”, soaring to $162Bn by 2030 [Vegconomist]

• A report by Bloomberg Intelligence, titled Plant-Based Foods Poised for Explosive Growth, has predicted that the value of the plant-based market will soar from $29.4 billion in 2020 to $162 billion by 2030.
• According to the report, plant-based foods could make up 7.7% of the global protein market within a decade. One factor driving the surge is increased competition for resources caused by population growth. This is especially relevant in the Asia Pacific region, which is projected to have a population of 4.6 billion by 2030.

Canada falling $60-billion short annually on investments needed to hit climate change targets [Financial Post]

• There needs to be about $70 billion a year spent on green technologies in Canada to meet carbon neutral targets by mid-century, but only about $10 billion is being invested annually, RBC economist Colin Guldimann said in the Royal Bank of Canada report released last week.

About 45% of EU firms have reported investments to fight climate change: EIB report [Mercom India]

• European Investment Bank (EIB) recently published the report “European firms and climate change 2020/2021: Evidence from the EIB Investment Survey”. The report sheds light on how European Union (EU) firms perceive climate risks, their investments to address the risks, and the key factors influencing their decisions. The report also provides an overview of European Union (EU) firms’ preparedness to meet the challenges of climate change and the energy transition.
• The report finds that around 45% of EU firms have reported climate investments, which comes on the heels of Europe being at the forefront of the fight against climate change with the Green Deal and the new “fit for 55” proposals.

Swiss can easily afford net zero transition with 2% GDP outlay - study [Reuters]

• Switzerland only needs to invest 2% of its gross domestic product annually over the next three decades to become carbon neutral by 2050, a banking study published on Thursday (8/19) found.
• Bringing Switzerland to net zero emissions by 2050 will require an average 12.9 billion Swiss francs ($3.1bn) in annual investments, the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) and the Boston Consulting Group concluded. This could largely be financed through banks' existing lending as well as smaller government outlays into infrastructure, they said.
• [Note from C4C: World GDP is around $93 trillion.  The climate investment gap is at least $3 trillion per year by most credible estimates.  Two percent of world GDP would not quite be enough.]