BlackRock raises $250 M for Climate Projects in Asia, Latin America, Africa

New York-based investment management company BlackRock has secured over $250 million from global investors and governments for the Climate Finance Partnership (CFP), which was introduced at the One Planet Summit in September 2018 under the leadership of French President Emmanuel Macron.

CFP is a flagship blended finance vehicle that is designed to invest in climate solutions and infrastructure, including renewables, across emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and Africa, wherein reside communities most vulnerable to the ongoing climate crisis.

The consortium of investors, which has issued a combined $112.5 million to the CFP, includes the Governments of France, through the French Development Agency (AFD); Germany, through KfW Development Bank (KfW); and Japan, through Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), as well as the Grantham Environmental Trust and the Quadrivium Foundation. Commitments have also been secured from European pension funds, including Dai-ichi Life Insurance and banks such as Standard Chartered and the MUFG Bank.

“We are honored to collaborate with this group of like-minded organizations from the public and private sectors to raise initial capital that will be used to help unlock the energy transition in emerging markets through the CFP,” said Edwin Conway, head of alternative investors, BlackRock.

The CFP is aiming to generate at least $500m and claims to now be halfway to that target. Around $9 trillion is required to enable emerging markets to derive two-thirds of their energy demand from renewables by 2050, says Bloomberg NEF (BNEF). While $150 billion was invested in clean energy in developing economies last year, this amount needs to grow to $1 trillion by 2030 to achieve global net-zero emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“This ambitious partnership, forged with Germany, Japan and leading global foundations, will help redirect financial flows toward sustainable development investments across the emerging world, with a priority to Africa as a key continent to France and Europe and one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change despite contributing the least to global warming,” said Remy Rioux, CEO of AFD.

CFP will focus investment on: grid-connected and/or distributed renewable power generation; energy efficiency in residential, commercial and/or industrial sectors; transmission or energy storage solutions; and ultra-low emission or electrified transportation and mobility services.