New Zealand Super Fund (NZ Super) has committed US$100m (€94m) to a climate innovation fund that targets energy transformation, transportation, agriculture and sustainable cities and buildings investment.
The New Zealand sovereign allocated the capital to Massachusetts-based Wellington Management’s Climate Innovation Fund (CIF) I.
Del Hart, head of external investment and partnerships for NZ Super, said Climate Innovation Fund 1 had a dual focus on financial returns and positive environmental impacts.
“Wellington’s research-led investment process, including its partnerships with the likes of Woodwell Climate Research Centre and the Joint Programme on the Science and Policy of Global Change at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also aligns with our approach,” she said, adding that NZ Super Fund’s involvement with CIF could potentially expand to include co-investments in successful portfolio companies.
Initially, the fund would seek to generate non-concessionary investment in Series B and C rounds of financing of target companies predominately across North America and Europe.
NZ Super’s investment in CIF follows similar investments in Fifth Wall Climate Technology Fund and Generation Investment Management’s Sustainable Solutions Fund IV.
In June this year, the NZ Super Fund shifted about 40% of its overall investment portfolio to market indices aligned with the Paris Agreement to further reduce its portfolio’s carbon footprint and to deliver improved ESG outcomes.
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