Climate Technology Finance

🔎𝐄𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 — especially for those in finance who think the energy transition is held back by a ‘finance gap’. There’s 𝐧𝐨 shortage of capital. And no, we’re not just one blended finance scheme away from solving the climate crisis. 💡 In this sharp piece on, Lara Merling exposes the real constraints behind the energy transition — and challenges the neoclassical fallacies that dominate economic thinking. 💸 Fallacy 1: That money is a scarce resource like labour or materials. 🧮 Fallacy 2: That market prices are accurate reflections of real-world scarcities. 📉 Fallacy 3: That central banks are neutral actors outside the real economy. 👉 The truth? The actual bottlenecks are material, technological, political and institutional: 🔺 Lack of skilled labour 🔺Inadequate supply chains 🔺Technological limits 🔺Political resistance 🔺Dysfunctional governance 💰 Finance can play a role — but it’s not the limiting factor. In fact, focusing on finance as the main barrier distracts from where the real work needs to happen. 📘 Merling’s piece is a must-read for anyone working at the intersection of macro, climate and public investment: 👉 https://lnkd.in/e6p-N2tw Let’s stop treating finance as the scapegoat — and start addressing the actual constraints. 🌍⚙️ #sustainablefinance #climate Adrienne Buller

Alastair Marsh's recent thought-provoking piece in @Bloomberg highlights critical challenges with the current climate tech investing landscape Climate tech projects are capital-intensive with long timelines. Unlike software, much of climate tech requires massive upfront capital for R&D, pilot plants, and manufacturing before significant revenue. This demands longer development and deployment cycles (often 7+ years to scale) that exceed typical 5-7 year VC exit horizons. The classic VC model - built for rapid, asset-light scale-ups - often misaligns with the realities of many climate tech solutions, especially "hard tech." While there’s an abundance of early-stage VC capital for entrepreneurs, later-stage growth that bridges these projects from venture to infrastructure stage is basically absent—that’s called the missing middle. We need to adapt and supplement that approach by layering in other types of capital and bridge the "missing middle." A broader array of financing instruments is essential for climate tech to scale, including patient equity and growth capital, project finance, blended finance, and specialized debt models. Marsh’s piece lays out how family offices are uniquely positioned to be catalyzing players in this space. Their flexibility allows them to deploy capital across diverse segments, filling the gap and driving significant financial returns alongside impact. https://lnkd.in/gUf85Bwy

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹. Natural disasters caused $𝟯𝟲𝟴 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 in global economic losses last year, according to Aon — the ninth year in a row losses topped $300 billion. Only 𝟰𝟬% of those losses were insured. The protection gap is widening. As insurers retreat from high-risk regions, public safety nets — often overstretched — are stepping in. More households, businesses, and governments are being left to absorb risks they cannot afford. This isn’t just about insurance anymore. When insurance breaks down, so does credit. When credit dries up, property values fall, costs rise, and resilience weakens — just when it’s needed most. @Günther Thallinger 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘇 put it starkly: “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬.” The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) project a 𝟱𝟬% 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗽𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗗𝗣 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀 if climate risk is not properly managed. Climate risk is no longer a future scenario. It is here. It is compounding. And it is reshaping our economy in real time. There are positive signs: ➤ Hannover Re and Swiss Re are restricting fossil fuel underwriting. ➤ Parametric insurance models are speeding up disaster recovery. ➤ EIOPA and the European Central Bank are pushing for public-private risk sharing. These are encouraging — but early signs. 𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲: Climate risk is already disrupting the systems we rely on: insurance, credit, asset valuation, and public finances. Systems change is needed. The insurance sector holds a unique vantage point — but leadership now demands rethinking long-held assumptions about risk, resilience, and responsibility. The sector has an opportunity to lead: ➤ Embed forward-looking climate risk into underwriting ➤ Signal future exposures more transparently ➤ Drive transition finance to accelerate decarbonisation ➤ Redirect investment into adaptation ➤ Co-design shared risk pools and resilience bonds Collaboration between insurers, financiers, and governments is no longer optional — it is the foundation for economic stability in a climate-disrupted world. The sooner we align risk pricing with physical reality, the stronger our chances of building a more resilient economy for the future. #climaterisk #insurance #resilience #finance #sustainability #systemicrisk #adaptation –––––––––– For updates on sustainability, climate, and innovation, follow me on LinkedIn: @Scott Kelly

Blackrock just took a big write-down on its Global Renewable Power Fund III. Because of two ill-fated investments in Northvolt and SolarZero. Surprisingly, a $4.8 billion fund saw its internal rate of return plummet due to just two portfolio companies faltering. This fund was BlackRock's third flagship GRP fund, part of its bet on the energy transition and a push towards renewable energy and infrastructure. Many of the funds’s assets are early-stage climate infrastructure investments in: EV charging, renewable generation, and power storage and transmission. Are they simply making bad investments or is this a prequel to what to expect? What this tells me about climate tech investing: 1. The significant impact of two companies on a $4.8 billion fund suggests that traditional risk models needs reevaluation. The conventional playbook for diversification doesn't quite work in climate tech. When companies in your portfolio are all betting on similar technological advances or regulatory shifts, they tend to sink or swim together. Traditional risk models might be missing these hidden correlations. 2. The Northvolt situation is a wake-up call - throwing money at climate tech isn't enough. These companies need investors who roll up their sleeves and get involved. We're seeing a shift from passive to active investing, where deep operational expertise is just as crucial as the capital itself. 3. SolarZero, a major player in New Zealand Energy Sector, was far from an early-stage startup when BlackRock acquired it in 2022. Despite its 50-year history , something went wrong. It hints at a broader challenge: global funds rushing into new markets might be overlooking local market dynamics and regional complexities in their eagerness to deploy capital in the renewable space. As this sector matures, we need a new framework for resilient investment strategies that can better weather the failures of individual companies while capitalizing on the overall growth trend in clean energy. #climatetech #VC #investment #newbook #fundclimatetech #blackrock Link for the news in the comments.

$20 billion. That's how much Brookfield just bet on the energy transition - in the middle of a "climate tech downturn." Brookfield raised $20 billion for its second energy transition fund - 33% more than Fund I raised in 2021. Let that sink in. 2021: Zero interest rates. Frothy markets. Peak climate hype. 2025: Higher rates. Cautious LPs. "Death of ESG" narratives. And yet institutional capital is INCREASING allocations. Here's what Brookfield is backing: $5 billion already deployed into renewable power projects and developers focusing on solar, wind, and battery storage. Not speculative moonshots. Cash-flowing infrastructure. Why this matters: → The energy transition isn't a trend, it's physics In 2024, global investment in clean energy reached an all-time high of $2 trillion, double the level of fossil fuel investment. → Policy uncertainty doesn't kill fundamentals Even with Trump administration cuts to climate programmes, commercial partnerships between technology providers and buyers in the US have continued to rise. → Infrastructure beats software in climate Climate tech investments grew 15% YoY, bolstered by growing demand for power and incentives. The three sub-sectors getting serious capital: 1. Grid Infrastructure Rising protectionism is making access to domestic energy and stable infrastructure a strategic priority. Every AI data centre, EV, and heat pump needs grid capacity. 2. Energy Storage Battery storage is no longer experimental. It's critical infrastructure. 3. Critical Minerals Mega-deals in nuclear, critical minerals, and sustainable aviation fuel show growing momentum behind technologies that anchor domestic supply chains. Bottom line: Whilst VCs debate whether climate tech is "back," institutional allocators are quietly deploying billions into assets that will define the next 30 years. If you're a founder building energy infrastructure or storage solutions, this is your moment. If you're an investor still "exploring" climate, you're already late. P.S. I'm connecting family offices with grid infrastructure and energy storage opportunities across Europe. If you want access to the deal flow, let's connect. #EnergyTransition #ClimateInfrastructure #SustainableInvesting #RenewableEnergy LinkedIn Linkedin News LinkedIn News

India’s Green Financing Opportunity Could Shape a Century   India stands at a defining moment where a growing economic momentum meets an urgent climate imperative. The capital we choose to deploy today, and the priorities that guide this deployment, will influence not just our development trajectory but also the century that India shapes for the world.   At a global scale, the key outcomes from the recently concluded COP30 point towards the immediacy of climate action and the pivotal role of green financing. With strategic policymaking and the emergence of a climate-focused entrepreneurial ecosystem, India has a real opportunity to lead the global cleantech transition and achieve its commitment to reach net-zero by 2070.   Today, Green finance is powering innovation and scaling climate action while enabling entrepreneurship and opening avenues in infrastructure and job creation. At the heart of this transition is India’s rapidly expanding climate-tech or cleantech entrepreneurship ecosystem. Entrepreneurs are building impactful solutions across solar microgrids, battery storage, EV charging, carbon capture and sustainable packaging. According to a news report published by Inc42, Indian climate tech startups attracted over $2.2Bn in new funding over the last 18 months. Despite this momentum, early-stage climate ventures, especially in Tier 2/3 regions, often face barriers in accessing institutional capital. The government is addressing this through policy pivots that strengthen transparency and build confidence in the climate innovation ecosystem.   Subsequently, upper-layer NBFCs, lenders and development finance institutions are collaborating to bridge funding gaps. We are also seeing the rise of innovative financing structures, including blended finance models that combine concessional and commercial capital, thematic green funds to de-risk early-stage investments and ESG-aligned investment frameworks. These tools are helping channel capital to the most impactful and scalable climate innovations. As policy intent aligns with an expanding pool of capital, I truly believe India is well-positioned to become a global cleantech hub. This convergence of finance, innovation and sustainability promises to power India’s transition, strengthens local economies, create green jobs and ultimately shape the green trajectory of the next century not only for the Global South, but for the world.   Now is the time for policymakers, lenders, investors and corporations to take unified action. If India accelerates its green financing architecture with the same ambition as digital and infrastructure transformation, India could set a global benchmark for climate-led growth. The next century will be defined by those who fund the future and India is on the right track to lead the change.

The COP29 Azerbaijan and COP30 Brazil today unveiled the Baku to Belém Roadmap — a blueprint to mobilize at least US$1.3 trillion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2035. Presidents Mukhtar Babayev and André Corrêa do Lago emphasize that this target is within reach — but will require significant effort from traditional sources as well as the development of new and innovative financial mechanisms. The Roadmap lays out five priority areas with a vision to 2035, each supported by focused action points: 1. Replenishing grants, concessional finance, and low-cost capital 2. Rebalancing fiscal space and debt sustainability 3. Rechanneling transformative private finance and affordable cost of capital 4. Revamping capacity and coordination for scaled climate portfolios 5. Reshaping systems and structures for equitable capital flows To kickstart implementation, the Presidencies propose practical early actions — improving data, driving reform debates, and strengthening transparency and collaboration. These steps will help build momentum, shape priorities, and demonstrate what is possible. The resources exist. The science is clear. The moral imperative is undeniable. What remains is the resolve — to make this the decade where ambition becomes action and humanity’s response finally meets the scale of its responsibility. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dqA6CqND

In recent posts, I’ve critiqued two widespread fallacies in sustainable investing: - That understanding “#systemicrisk” will somehow lead investors to mitigate planetary risks. - That entity-level targets and disclosures—no matter how rigorous—can drive the systems-level transformations we need. This post offers a constructive alternative: what pragmatic climate investment actually looks like. First, we need to stop conflating two distinct tasks: managing risk and addressing climate change. Managing financial and physical risks is essential—but it is not the same as financing decarbonization. Misunderstanding this distinction has led to frameworks that create at best, ineffective, and at worst, perverse, outcomes. Addressing climate change requires financing transformative systems change: reshaping energy systems, transport, industry, and digital infrastructure. These transformations cannot be delivered by the sum of firm-level targets or strategies, nor by any reallocation of capital by financial firms alone. They require multi-actor coordination around coherent roadmaps—combining technology pathways, institutional reform, enabling policy, and investment strategies. These are the transformations that will have the most decisive impact on decarbonizing our economy. They are not theoretical or impossible. They’re mapped out in reports like the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s Net Zero by 2050, as well as many regional and sectoral pathways. And yet, we remain far off course from global climate targets precisely because we are not orienting our actions around these roadmaps. Instead, we’ve focused on corporate commitments and disclosures that are not proxies for real decarbonization. They neither incentivize nor reflect the systemic changes required. Many of the most critical investments must happen in EMDEs, where future emissions growth will be concentrated. But most institutional investors do not invest in these markets due to high perceived risk (not a single low-income country is deemed credit-worthy by CRAs). That’s why a core part of pragmatic climate investing is addressing the actual barriers to capital mobilization: lowering the #costofcapital in EMDEs, designing innovative risk-sharing mechanisms, and the strategic use of public finance and guarantees to catalyze private investment. These challenges are structural—but solvable. Improving risk assessment and resilience is also essential. We need better integration of science and risk tools to inform strategic investments in adaptation and resilience. But this work must not be confused with—or take priority over—the urgent need to finance mitigation at scale. With clarity on these distinctions, and alignment around real decarbonization roadmaps, we can move from misplaced proxies to effective strategies—and deliver the transformative outcomes the planet urgently needs. Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Darius Nassiry Allan Marks Mahmoud Mohieldin De Rui Wong

**Our new model for coordinating national sustainable finance objectives!** Reaching national climate goals demands coordination on climate action across governments, financial institutions, corporates, and societies! We put together a gameplan for this all-hands-on-deck strategy to improving climate action and climate risk management: the consortium approach. This accessible guide will help national actors develop sustainable finance consortium in their countries! 🔍We show case studies from the successful implementation of sustainable finance consortiums in four diverse countries: Ireland, Japan, Mexico, and Nigeria.    🔍 The report focuses on the pivotal role these consortiums play as platforms where financial institutions and business corporations collaborate to pursue climate-related financial disclosures.   🔍 It delves into the experiences of these jurisdictions in setting up consortiums and leveraging them to support the adoption of climate disclosure frameworks, such as #ISSB and #TCFD. Key objectives of the report: 🎯 Learn from successful models: Extract valuable insights from the experiences of jurisdictions that have successfully developed consortiums related to sustainability and climate disclosures.  🎯 Understand benefits and challenges: Gain a nuanced understanding of the benefits and challenges associated with establishing #sustainablefinance consortiums.  🎯 Provide a roadmap for implementation: Offer a comprehensive roadmap for entities seeking to establish their own consortiums, facilitating the integration of #sustainability and #climate disclosure frameworks.   "The Consortium Approach to Sustainability Reporting” is tailored for ✅ Financial institutions ✅ Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) ✅ Large companies in the private sector ✅ Industry associations ✅ Stock exchanges ✅ Financial regulators ✅ Government authorities and other stakeholders who are committed to enhancing sustainability and climate reporting within their organizations and the broader business environment. https://lnkd.in/eAqd2jBE #climatefinance #cop28 #climateaction #sustainablefinance #climaterisk   UNDP UNDP Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)

The Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3 Trillion is a plan for action, building on COP29's finance milestone agreement, and carrying momentum into #COP30.  At its core, the Roadmap is about turning commitments into practical, inclusive climate finance action that’s effective in delivering outcomes that protect lives and strengthen economies.   For the first time, more than 200 governments, banks, businesses, and communities have joined forces to outline workable solutions for mobilizing climate finance.     The Roadmap shows how, by working together, we can scale up climate finance towards USD 1.3 trillion a year by 2035, helping developing countries meet their climate goals.     This can bring tremendous benefits for the global economy – generating jobs, protecting communities, and driving innovation.    The task is ambitious, but achievable. The tools exist; what’s been missing is coordination and shared commitment.     This Roadmap provides a guide to both, aligning public and private finance behind a common direction, and building confidence that 1.3 trillion is within reach.     Times are tough; many governments have scarce resources and hard choices. But positive tipping points are already taking hold: from dramatic declines in the cost of clean energy, to innovation in sectors of the economy we thought would take decades to decarbonise.     It's also high time for a paradigm shift. Treating climate finance purely as cost, or as charity, is misguided and self-defeating, and has held back the progress we need.    Make no mistake: scaling up climate finance hugely benefits every nation. It’s a vital investment in resilient global supply chains, supporting low-inflation growth, food security, and a stronger, more productive global economy that underpins peace and prosperity.    Getting finance flowing means expanding access to catalytic grant finance. It also means unlocking low-interest capital, creating fiscal space, managing debt pressures, and de-risking investment.     Innovative tools – such as debt swaps and private capital reinvestment – can help put money to work where it matters most: into clean energy and resilience, enabling countries to implement Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans more quickly and fairly.    Recent climate shocks show what’s at stake, as climate disasters like Hurricane Melissa rip through communities and economies. So, every early dollar deployed now helps avoid far greater costs later for all nations. There’s no time to waste.    The Paris Agreement is working to deliver real progress, as our three recent reports show, but not nearly fast enough.     By scaling climate finance to match the scope of the climate crisis, we can turn ambition into momentum, making climate action a driver of economic growth, stability, and shared prosperity.    From Baku to Belém, we are moving from agreement to action, focusing on solutions and alignment for people, prosperity, and the planet.