HSBC natural capital asset management venture bags £533m
A natural capital asset management venture set up by HSBC and climate firm Pollination has bagged $650m to fuel two of its investment strategies, the firms announced today.
HSBC said a “geographically diverse” range of global backers had pumped cash into the strategies from across Europe, the US, Asia-Pacific and the UK, with the British bank acting as anchor investor for both strategies.
The two strategies are looking to deliver “long-term financial returns” while delivering a boost to areas like agriculture, forestry and environmental assets, bosses at HSBC said in a statement.
“We are delighted to have secured these commitments from a diverse global institutional investor-base for our Natural Capital and Nature Based Carbon strategies,” said Christof Kutscher, chief of the new joint venture.
“Both investment strategies are grounded in nature-based assets and we find they are increasingly attractive to forward-thinking organisations that are themselves committed to the transition to net zero.
Natural capital strategies look to place a financial value on biodiversity and fund the maintenance of habitats. The philosophy has played a prominent role
The move to pump cash into the strategies from HSBC comes after a slew of criticism in recent months that it has not backed up its climate claims with action.
The advertising watchdog banned a series of adverts from the bank in October on the grounds it did not reflect its contribution to the climate crisis. Any future campaigns must disclose its impact.
The watchdog said consumers would “not expect that HSBC, in making unqualified claims about its environmentally beneficial work, would also be simultaneously involved in the financing of businesses which made significant contributions to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and would continue to do so for many years into the future”.