The State-backed Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) is to invest €65 million in Just Climate’s inaugural fund that will back businesses trying to radically reduce or remove emissions that contribute to climate change.
Just Climate was founded by former US vice president Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management to address the challenge of net zero emissions at scale.
Its Climate Assets Fund I will invest in growth-stage, asset-heavy companies that could have a transformational climate impact in some of the highest-emitting industries, such as energy, mobility, industry and buildings. The fund is intended to support those businesses that could have a major impact on emissions abatement in the next decade.
ISIF, which is managed by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), is one of a number of major founding investors in the fund, which has raised $1.5 billion in institutional capital. The fund had originally targeted a raise of $1 billion. ISIF joins Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, which anchored the fund, IMAS Foundation, Harvard Management Company, the Imprint Group of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Hall Capital Partners and its clients.
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It is part of the State-backed fund’s commitment to invest €1 billion in climate projects over a five-year period, with €500 million of this figure committed to date.
“ISIF sees this as a real opportunity to accelerate the transition to Net Zero – not just in Ireland but world-wide. We are excited to build on our long-standing partnership with Generation by investing in the Just Climate investment platform,” said Paul Saunders, head of climate for ISIF. “The extent and urgency of the climate challenge require ISIF and other major investors to work together to drive innovation in climate action. We believe this initiative is a major step forward in sustainable investing and increasing the capital available to target high-impact areas in the shift to a low-carbon economy.”
The fund will also seek out climate-related investment opportunities in Ireland. Just Climate has already made three investments from the fund to date, including Swiss based electric vehicle charging company ABB E-mobility, Swedish industrial start-up H2 Green Steel, and Meva Energy, a Sweden-based provider of a gasification technology to generate renewable energy for manufacturing sectors.
The fund will also see how the opportunities presented by its investments could be used in Ireland.
