Wednesday, May 28, 2025
LBNN
  • Business
  • Markets
  • Politics
  • Crypto
  • Finance
  • Energy
  • Technology
  • Taxes
  • Creator Economy
  • Wealth Management
  • Documentaries
No Result
View All Result
LBNN

Investors plough billions into net-zero transition

Simon Osuji by Simon Osuji
January 17, 2025
in Energy
0
Investors plough billions into net-zero transition
0
SHARES
2
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


London-listed bank Standard Chartered and asset manager Schroders have unveiled plans to invest billions in the energy transition.

Standard Chartered said it has joined forces with global private equity firm Apollo Global Management to provide $3 billion of finance.

“As we navigate a world in transition, a key area where the banking sector can play a critical leadership role is in building a more resilient society,” said Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters in a social media post on Wednesday.

“Through this partnership, we plan to contribute up to $3 billion of clean energy and transition financing across a range of asset classes and sectors.”

Winters cited recent events including “the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, floods and typhoons across Southeast Asia at the end of 2024”, as the impetus for the investment, describing them as “stark reminders of the urgent need” to partner on climate action.

Standard Chartered, which has invested in renewables across the Middle East and Africa and Asia, is listed on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges and active in 52 global markets.

The bank said it will contribute credit to the Apollo Clean Transition (ACT) Capital sustainable investing platform, which will provide “clean energy and transition financing across a range of asset classes and sectors”.

“As per our announcement this week, our partnership with Apollo will help to support and accelerate financing for infrastructure, clean transition and renewable energy globally,” a spokesperson for the bank said in an emailed statement.

Apollo, which has invested more than $40bn in ‘energy transition and climate-related’ investments, plans to finance a “wide range of clean energy and climate capital needs across credit and equities” through the strategy, according to a statement.

Investment in the energy transition is only expected to rise, with the International Energy Agency estimating that $2tn would be spent on clean energy technologies and infrastructure in 2024 – double the volume invested in fossil fuels.

Many of the world’s biggest banks have retrenched from fossil fuel financing in the past five years as part of their commitment to net-zero goals, leading to calls for access to so-called ‘transition’ finance for decarbonisation projects.

The latest tie-up between a global bank and one of the world’s biggest private equity investors indicates continued appetite for banks to provide ‘transition’ finance. A private equity firm typically uses debt, or leverage, to buy companies to scale them and make a profit on sale.

In this case, Standard Chartered will provide a senior secured credit facility to ACT Capital to fund project finance and infrastructure loans. The bank has also bought an undisclosed minority stake in Apterra, a company owned by Apollo that was founded in 2023 specialising in infrastructure debt origination, which has carried out $4.8bn in financing transactions.

Apterra will be mainly responsible for originating deals for the financing partnership.

The companies said they will “accelerate financing for infrastructure, clean transition and renewable energy globally, leveraging the leading origination and distribution capabilities of both firms”.

Meanwhile, Apollo said in a statement that it “believes the demand for capital in these areas will scale materially in the coming years”.

Jim Zelter, Apollo Asset Management’s co-president, said: “The global industrial renaissance is creating unprecedented capital demands across next-gen infrastructure, sustainable power and other transition assets.”

Net zero allegiance

According to the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), Standard Chartered is one of more than 140 banks remaining with the United Nations’ net-zero group, despite the departure of six banks this past month.

“Sustainability is a strategic focus area for Standard Chartered and our long-standing commitment to this is evidenced by our membership of both the GFANZ principals group and the NZBA,” a spokesperson for Standard Chartered confirmed in a statement.

The NZBA said nine banks have left the net-zero alliance since the start of 2023, and a further two merged or went into administration. The alliance is part of former Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ).

© Bloomberg
Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

Standard Chartered said it has “made progress in setting interim 2030 financed emissions targets for 11 of 12 high-emitting sectors”, with agriculture being the latest sector to be added this year.

“As set out in our Net Zero Roadmap, we aim to reach net zero carbon emissions in our financing activity by 2050 and in our own operations by 2025,” a spokesperson from Standard Chartered said in a statement.

“We updated this roadmap in 2023, committing to an absolute emissions target and trajectory for the oil and gas sector and today, remain focused on the delivery of our independent net zero strategy.”

Asset manager Schroders, which joined the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative in 2020, said this week that it will invest £5.2bn in sustainable investments on behalf of UK wealth manager St James’s Place.

A spokesperson confirmed that the money will be invested into the stock market. According to the firm, investment will go through Schroders’ Sustainable & Responsible Equity fund, and across the Global Sustainable Value Equity Fund and Schroder Global Sustainable Growth Fund.

“This mandate will be investing in public markets, not unlisted [energy] assets,” a spokesperson said.

The asset manager said in its 2023 climate report that it was aiming to achieve net zero by 2050 or sooner.

Its latest sustainability allocation will be made in the first quarter of 2025, according to the firm. The funds will adopt the Financial Conduct Authority’s sustainability focus label, after Schroders said in December that it would use the sustainability criteria for at least ten new funds.

The Schroder family owns about 44% of the issued share capital in Schroders, which has managed renewable energy investor Schroders Greencoat since acquiring a majority stake in Greencoat Capital from the Green Investment Bank in 2022.

With £773.7 billion of assets under management as of 30 June 2024, Schroders is a FTSE100 company, with a market capitalisation of approximately £6 billion and more than 6,000 employees.

– Additional reporting by Kitty Ma

Recommended for you

ETZ Ltd offshore renewables director Isla Robb.

Power Moves: ETZ Ltd’s new offshore renewables director and more



Source link

Related posts

Billions of dollars energy projects funded by AfDB under outgoing president, Akinwumi Adesina

Billions of dollars energy projects funded by AfDB under outgoing president, Akinwumi Adesina

May 28, 2025
Steps by steps guide to starting a solar company in Nigeria

Steps by steps guide to starting a solar company in Nigeria

May 27, 2025
Previous Post

Pollution: NESREA seals popular Nasarawa relaxation garden – EnviroNews

Next Post

Is Oppenheimer on Netflix?

Next Post
Is Oppenheimer on Netflix?

Is Oppenheimer on Netflix?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECOMMENDED NEWS

Novel framework can generate images more aligned with user expectations

Novel framework can generate images more aligned with user expectations

6 months ago
Africa Collective to kick off week-long agenda in partnership with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat

Africa Collective scales up 2024 Davos presence to convene international and pan-African private and public sector leaders.

1 year ago
John Mahama’s second month as president sees Ghana’s economy ease again

John Mahama’s second month as president sees Ghana’s economy ease again

3 months ago
Make a Real Difference in Your Community with a Huntington Franchise

Make a Real Difference in Your Community with a Huntington Franchise

11 months ago

POPULAR NEWS

  • Ghana to build three oil refineries, five petrochemical plants in energy sector overhaul

    Ghana to build three oil refineries, five petrochemical plants in energy sector overhaul

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • When Will SHIB Reach $1? Here’s What ChatGPT Says

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Matthew Slater, son of Jackson State great, happy to see HBCUs back at the forefront

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Dolly Varden Focuses on Adding Ounces the Remainder of 2023

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • US Dollar Might Fall To 96-97 Range in March 2024

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 LBNN - All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Markets
  • Crypto
  • Economics
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate
    • Infrastructure
  • Finance
  • Energy
  • Creator Economy
  • Wealth Management
  • Taxes
  • Telecoms
  • Military & Defense
  • Careers
  • Technology
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Investigative journalism
  • Art & Culture
  • Documentaries
  • Quizzes
    • Enneagram quiz
  • Newsletters
    • LBNN Newsletter
    • Divergent Capitalist

© 2023 LBNN - All rights reserved.