Temasek Announces Launch of GenZero to Increase Decarbonisation Efforts
Temasek, a Singaporean investment firm, has launched GenZero, a wholly-owned investment platform dedicated to driving decarbonisation globally.
The climate issue is worsening, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's most recent assessment warns that the world is not on track to keep the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
To avoid catastrophic damage to the world, it is critical to accelerate decarbonisation across all sectors and close the emissions gap, which is predicted to be between 19 and 26 gigatonnes of carbon in 2030 under a 1.5 degree Celsius scenario.
With its ability to deploy long-term and flexible finance, GenZero hopes to catalyse decarbonisation solutions. It invests in opportunities ranging from early-stage companies and solutions that require patient capital to commercialise and grow to more mature ones that are ready to scale.
It invests in three areas: (i) technology-based solutions that deliver deep decarbonisation impact through climate-driven technologies; (ii) nature-based solutions that help protect and restore our natural ecosystems to generate climate impact while benefiting local communities and biodiversity; and (iii) carbon ecosystem enablers, which refer to companies and solutions that support the development of an effective, efficient, and credible carbon ecosystem.
These key areas, taken together, present a holistic and integrated strategy for closing the emissions gap, with options for both the short and long term. GenZero aims to have a positive influence on the environment while still providing long-term financial gains.
Dr Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer, Temasek International, said: "GenZero expands Temasek’s focus on deploying capital to catalyse solutions for a better world. Achieving net-zero globally will require the deployment of around US$5 trillion annually by 2030, to rapidly adopt and commercialise sustainable energy solutions. Its flexible approach will enable it to catalyse near- and long-term solutions to support ongoing efforts to achieve net-zero globally. GenZero will not only support Temasek’s efforts as we strive towards halving our portfolio’s net emissions by 2030 and working towards a net-zero portfolio by 2050 but also those of the wider ecosystem.”
Frederick Teo, CEO-designate, GenZero, said: "GenZero is driven by the common purpose to decarbonise for future generations. Recognising the importance of immediate action, we will focus on investment opportunities that can deliver positive climate impact by 2030 while ensuring sustainable financial returns. Besides deploying capital, we will work with our investee companies to address operational challenges and accelerate the deployment of their solutions to achieve our shared net-zero target."
Source: Temasek
