ANZ has announced it has invested US$50 million and taken a minority stake in climate change investment and advisory firm Pollination.
The firm works with a range of clients including corporates and governments to design, implement and finance their transitions towards net zero.
ANZ and Pollination said that their new strategic partnership would help to drive the net zero transition across Asia-Pacific and support biodiversity while offering “innovative solutions and opportunities” to customers.
“We’re pleased to be partnering with a team that has strong climate finance and investment expertise, deep relationships and commercial momentum,” said ANZ group executive, institutional, Mark Whelan.
“These credentials, combined with ANZ’s longstanding leadership position in sustainable finance and debt capital markets, will bring significant opportunities for our customers.”
Pollination was established in 2019 and currently has more than 120 experts on climate finance and investment working across 13 countries.
The firm said its team had played leading roles in decarbonisation and nature solutions such as the development of the Paris Agreement and through leadership positions at the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, Clean Energy Finance Corporation and other green finance and climate innovation institutions.
ANZ will gain a seat on Pollination’s board as part of its investment which formed part of the firm’s Series B fundraising.
“Strategic partnerships are core to Pollination’s impact model – they extend our reach and scale far beyond what we could achieve alone,” said Pollination co-founding partner Martijn Wilder.
“ANZ’s investment unlocks capital to accelerate Pollination’s own investment strategies, and the strategic partnership will deliver the next generation of sustainable finance products, at significant scale throughout Asia-Pacific.”
Mr Wilder said that ANZ had demonstrated a strong track record of delivering innovative sustainable finance products.
“With a presence in 14 markets across Asia, it has exceptional reach where investment in decarbonisation and nature is both critically important and a huge opportunity.”
Jon Bragg
Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.
