Climate

Climate Fund Managers’ $1.06bn final close for Climate Investor II is a win for climate finance in frontier markets. It’s also a reminder that standardization remains elusive.

Co-founder Nick Dilks says allocation and liquidity challenges kept some LPs from backing the vehicle, which pursues large-scale mitigation, biodiversity and habitat restoration projects.

The blended finance fund manager previously structured the $1.6bn Galapagos debt-for-nature swap, in which CI2 was an investor.

Managing director John McKenna says LPs are waking up to the fact ‘40% of the world’s biodiversity is in Latin America’ and are allocating accordingly.

Australia’s Agriculture and Land Sector Plan outlines major opportunities in carbon, biodiversity and clean fuel, but investors lack the clarity that has driven capital into other sectors like renewable energy.

Silva Capital has broken ground on the first project registered under Australia’s biodiversity market but questions remain over how the demand for biodiversity certificates will develop.

Humanity needs to produce more food on less land, according to the impact-focused fund manager.

Debt-for-nature swaps surged in 2023, but have slowed sharply since. The reason lies less with sovereign appetite than with the availability of political risk insurance.

The Cleaner Fuels program aims to cut transport emissions while attracting investment in local refining capacity and creating opportunities for Australian agriculture.

The venture capital fund will target areas including maritime decarbonization, ocean renewable energy and green shipping infrastructure.