Temasek launches investment platform GenZero to accelerate decarbonisation globally

Temasek launches investment platform GenZero to accelerate decarbonisation globally

Published: 06-06-2022 13:23:41 | By: Pie Kamau | hits: 3823 | Tags:

Temasek announced the launch of GenZero, a wholly-owned investment platform company dedicated to accelerating decarbonisation globally.

The climate crisis is intensifying and the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that the world is not on track to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. There is an urgent need to accelerate decarbonisation across all sectors to avoid irreversible damage to the planet by reducing global carbon emissions and address the emissions gap, which is estimated between 19 and 26 gigatonnes of carbon in 2030 for a 1.5 degrees Celsius scenario.

GenZero looks to catalyse decarbonisation solutions with its ability to deploy long-term and flexible capital. 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 has three investment focus 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; (iii) carbon ecosystem enablers which refer to companies and solutions that support the development of an effective, efficient, and credible carbon ecosystem.

Together, these focus areas present a holistic and integrated approach to address the emissions gap, with solutions across both the near- and longer-term horizons. GenZero seeks to deliver positive climate impact alongside long-term sustainable financial returns

Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer, Temasek International: "GenZero expands Temasek's focus on deploying capital to catalyse solutions for a better world. Achieving net zero globally will require deployment of around $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."

GenZero will be managed by a dedicated team of professionals with deep expertise in the investment and sustainability space, led by its CEO-designate, Frederick Teo, who is currently the Managing Director of Sustainable Solutions at Temasek International. Teo has served nearly 12 years in Temasek in leadership positions across a broad range of roles such as sustainability, portfolio management, business continuity and strategic stakeholder engagement. He will fully transition to his role at GenZero on 1 July 2022.

Frederick Teo, CEO-designate, GenZero: "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."

www.genzero.co