The BlackRock Foundation contributes $100 million to Breakthrough Energy's Catalyst Program for Clean Energy Investments
BlackRock Inc
The BlackRock Foundation gave Breakthrough Energy's Catalyst Program $100 million. Catalyst is a new approach for financing, creating, and adopting renewable technologies. Catalyst will help develop four renewable energy technologies. BlackRock believes climate risk is an investment risk, hence the $100 million award.
The BlackRock Foundation announced today a $100 million grant to Breakthrough Energy's Catalyst Program ("Catalyst") to help accelerate the development of climate solutions required to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The grant reflects BlackRock's commitment to increasing the availability and affordability of clean energy solutions in order to assist the world in transitioning to a net-zero economy.
"Every citizen, corporation, and government shares responsibility for transitioning to a net-zero world and creating a more sustainable future. To mobilise the $50 trillion in capital required to finance the global energy transition, innovative new partnerships across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors will be required,"
said Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock.
"Our collaboration with the Catalyst programme represents a five-year philanthropic commitment to invest in cutting-edge science that will help bring vital clean energy solutions to scale in order to achieve the world's decarbonization goals and mitigate the uneven impact of climate change on communities."
Catalyst is a new model for financing, producing, and ensuring widespread adoption of next-generation clean technologies by businesses, governments, and private philanthropy. The initial focus of Catalyst will be to aid in the development and commercialization of four clean energy technologies: direct air capture, green hydrogen, long-duration energy storage, and sustainable aviation fuel. Catalyst will invest in these technologies, which are critical to achieving net-zero emissions, with the goal of lowering their costs in order to compete with and replace the greenhouse gas emitting counterparts available today, lowering what are known as Green Premiums and, ultimately, accelerating their widespread adoption.
"Averting a climate catastrophe will necessitate a new industrial revolution. We need to make emissions-free technologies and products as affordable as those that emit them,"
said Bill Gates, founder of Breakthrough Energy.
"The technologies Catalyst focuses on are critical to the world reaching net zero, but they require significant investments to become affordable to the entire world. We can reduce their Green Premiums, help them get to market faster, and have a meaningful positive impact on our planet by coordinating investments and directing them toward these critical technologies."
BlackRock's anchor partnership with Catalyst is the firm's first philanthropic climate commitment, as well as the largest grant made by The BlackRock Foundation since its inception in February 2020. The BlackRock Foundation deploys philanthropic capital and forms partnerships to advance inclusive and sustainable economies and communities, with the goal of creating long-term prosperity for more people, communities, and the planet. It makes use of BlackRock's expertise and resources to assist an increasing number of people outside the scope of our core business in achieving financial security and long-term prosperity. As an anchor partner, BlackRock will also work with Catalyst to support investments in early commercial demonstration projects, provide perspectives on continued private sector engagement, offer insights on investment and offtake strategies, and encourage more companies to join Catalyst.
BlackRock and its clients place a premium on clean energy. The $100 million grant is consistent with BlackRock's belief that climate risk is an investment risk, and it complements a number of other initiatives focusing on the intersection of sustainability and technology.
BlackRock raised $250 million earlier this year for its Climate Finance Partnership (CFP), a consortium of governments, foundations, and institutional investors that will invest in renewable energy generation, energy storage solutions, and electrified transportation services in emerging markets. This year, BlackRock also announced a collaboration to launch a series of late stage venture capital and early growth private equity investment funds focused on advancing decarbonization solutions to accelerate global efforts to achieve a net zero economy by 2050.
Breakthrough Energy is working to close funding gaps that are preventing critical climate technology from reaching scale through Catalyst and other programmes. Breakthrough Energy, in addition to Catalyst, oversees a network of investment vehicles, philanthropic programmes, policy advocacy, and other activities aimed at assisting the world in reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Source: BlackRock newsroom
