DUBAI (BLOOMBERG) – The United Arab Emirates, host of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, will put USD30 billion into a new climate finance fund aimed at improving the flow of money into projects to reduce emissions, especially in the Global South.
The UAE said Alterra aims to mobilise USD250 billion by the end of the decade. BlackRock Inc, Brookfield and TPG will be inaugural launch partners for Alterra. The group has committed USD6.5 billion to climate-dedicated funds for global investment, including in the developing world. Some of that cash is already earmarked for renewable projects in India.
A sufficient flow of finance is essential if the world is going to come anywhere close to reaching the goals laid down in the Paris Agreement and increasing the amount of cash available to poorer nations is high on the agenda at the talks in Dubai. Sultan Al Jaber, president of COP28, said the announcement would have a material impact.
“Its scale and structure will create a multiplier effect in climate focused investment, making it a vehicle like no other,” he said in a statement. He will also chair Alterra’s board.
Alterra’s USD30 billion will be split into two parts. First, USD25 billion will be deployed at Alterra Acceleration and will steer institutional capital toward climate investments at scale. Alterra Transformation will get USD5 billion to be deployed as risk mitigation capital to incentivise investment flows into the Global South.
That split raised questions about how much impact the fund would have in countries most in need of additional climate finance.
“The majority of the USD30 billion fund is expected to operate at market rates rather than through concessional finance or grants – a financial approach deemed essential for the substantial upscaling of renewable deployment in the Global South,” 350.org, a climate nonprofit, said in a statement.
Alterra will be managed by Lunate, an independent global investment manager domiciled in the Abu Dhabi Global Market. Majid Al Suwaidi, an Emirati diplomat who’s currently COP28 director-general, will serve as chief executive officer.
Alterra will allocate a total of USD2 billion to two BlackRock funds: USD1 billion from Alterra Acceleration will go into BlackRock’s Climate Transition-Oriented Private Debt strategy. Another USD1 billion from Acceleration and Transformation will be invested through BlackRock in climate-related infrastructure.
A further USD3 billion will be invested through Canadian investment firm Brookfield. Alterra Transformation will put USD1 billion into a new Catalytic Transition Fund, while USD2 billion form Acceleration will go into the Brookfield Global Transition Fund II.
