Nuveen is partnering with the U.K. charity Shell Foundation to boost climate solutions investment in emerging markets.
"We believe there is a gap for growth-stage capital at companies like the ones that Shell Foundation has built, and in the markets where they work, and we are excited to work collaboratively to fill that gap," said Pete Murphy, head of impact and ESG at Nuveen, New York, in an email.
Nuveen manages more than $1.3 trillion in assets globally. Its dedicated private equity impact strategy expects to invest at least $100 million over the next five years into private transformative companies serving climate-vulnerable communities in Africa and Asia. The goal is to increase energy access, mitigate climate change and build climate resilience, Nuveen said in a news release that credited Consilium Capital Ltd., a corporate finance firm dedicated to sustainable impact, with helping to initiate the pact.
In 2021, Shell Foundation research identified $200 billion in investment opportunities providing off-grid energy solutions in sub-Saharan Africa that will avoid 626 million tons of carbon emissions by 2030. The foundation had £460 million ($625 million) in assets as of Dec. 31, 2020, the most recently reported figure.
Rekha Unnithan, co-head of private impact investing at Nuveen, New York, said her firm has admired the foundation's efforts to bring commercial scale to climate solutions in emerging markets for years and has worked directly with some of the foundation's portfolio companies.
The new partnership "will provide a platform for us to ... work more thoughtfully and efficiently to deploy capital into leading companies that are ... providing valuable products and services to emerging markets consumers," Ms. Unnithan said in the news release.
The partnership "will catalyze entire markets into addressing the (United Nations') sustainable development goals and delivering positive impact to millions of lives," said Ashish Kumar, climate and innovation lead at Shell Foundation, London, in the release.
