Climate solutions-focused investment business Just Climate announced today that it has raised $1.5 billion for its inaugural fund, Climate Assets Fund I, closing the fund significantly ahead of its initial $1 billion target.

Founded in October 2021 by Generation Investment Management, a sustainability-focused investment firm chaired by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Just Climate aims to deliver impact by focusing on investments in projects and companies in hard to abate sectors and geographies, while simultaneously delivering appropriate risk-adjusted returns. The fund targets catalytic climate solutions in sectors including energy, transport, industry, and buildings and natural climate solutions for food, agriculture, and oceans.

Clara Barby CBE, Senior Partner of Just Climate, said:

“Establishing climate-led investing as a capital allocation imperative is core to our mission. We start with climate impact, identify solutions that will make the biggest difference, and then direct and scale institutional capital to those solutions that we believe can generate attractive risk-adjusted returns.”

The initial group of investors included Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund as an anchor investor, as well as IMAS Foundation, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Harvard Management Company, the Imprint Group of Goldman Sachs, and Hall Capital Partners. At close, institutional investors participating in the fund include California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), PSP Investments, AP4, Colonial First State Investments, Builders Asset Management and AP2.

The fund’s primary objective is to support Just Climate’s mission to address climate change through industrial solutions. It will invest in asset-heavy growth-stage companies in industries with high emissions and limited options for reducing them, such as energy, mobility, industry, and buildings. By targeting these sectors, the company says it hopes to make a significant and transformative impact on climate change.

Just Climate recently announced the fund’s first three investments, including electric vehicle charging solutions provider ABB E-mobility, low carbon steel startup H2 Green Steel, and industrial clean energy company Meva Energy.

Shaun Kingsbury CBE, Chief Investment Officer of Just Climate, said:

“More than 50% of the world’s emissions come from the hard-to-abate industries. Without radical and urgent changes to the way that the financial sector approaches the decarbonisation challenge in these industries, which are the building blocks of our economy, there will be no net zero by 2050. Proven, transformational climate solutions are being developed to decarbonise the industrial sectors. With the right investment support, we believe they can scale rapidly to achieve better gross margins, a lower cost of capital and widespread market adoption.”

The post Just Climate Raises $1.5 Billion for Industrial Decarbonization Solutions Fund first appeared on ESG Today.

The post Just Climate Raises $1.5 Billion for Industrial Decarbonization Solutions Fund appeared first on ESG Today.