Heard at PRI in Person 2024: Action

• October 16, 2024
• admin

On October 9, 2024, the Government of Canada announced the advancement of the “Made-in-Canada Sustainable Investment Guidelines,” which included provisions for categorizing investments based on their contribution to the net-zero transition. It could take up to three years, however, to finalize discussions on incentives to support the development of green projects, hindering progress on incentive structures that are crucial for attracting investments into green infrastructure and projects.

The good news is that many organizations are (more quietly) soldiering on in the face of regulatory uncertainty and political backlash. As noted in an April 2024 issue of Time Magazine, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon “know that clean technologies are where the biggest growth opportunities remain.” 

Dimon is placing his bets: To directly impact the transition to a low-carbon economy and provide investment opportunities related to climate change, conservation and biodiversity, JPM Asset Management acquired Campbell Global, a forest management and timberland investing company. The acquisition gives the firm a strategic entry point into the global carbon markets, as well as investment opportunities in climate change, biodiversity, and conservation. To hedge carbon pricing risk, the firm built its own internal management strategy rather than relying on government backstops.

Interesting opportunities in the global middle market were also widely noted at PRI this year. These businesses, historically overlooked by large institutional investors, present unique investment opportunities due to their agility and potential for rapid adoption of sustainability-related technologies and initiatives. Sustainable investors can drive significant impact in the mid-market by funding companies that are ready to invest in climate-positive solutions but lack access to capital. The sector’s flexibility makes it an ideal testing ground for innovative financing mechanisms for the deployment of technically viable, but underutilized, climate solutions. 

Some of the best examples of Action came from the deep dive into the real economy at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce + Climate Positive Energy Smart Growth Symposium. Culminating with the wrap of PRI, the Symposium dug into the specific barriers companies face in decarbonizing their operations. Many of these obstacles aren’t financial. For Uber, it’s overcoming “car-based culture”, which they’re tackling through behavioural science research in Canadian and US cities. Green uber selections, which are pennies extra per person, create a significant incentive for drivers. For Purolator, it’s access to electricity to charge their e-bikes for last mile delivery in urban areas. Surprisingly, electricity access in the parking lots housing e-bike containers don’t all have access to power. In addition to advocating with utilities, Purolator is piloting alternative sources of on-site power generation.

The Symposium left this Call to Action with its attendees: “Prioritize trying things. Some will succeed, some will fail. Persevere through the hiccups.”

Check this space tomorrow for more of what we heard on the need for partnerships and collaborative action in solving these tough challenges.

The Global Climate Finance Accelerator convenes partnerships across business, finance, and government on strategies, policies, procedures, and tools to finance the deployment of technically viable climate solutions.