A coalition comprising 23 VC firms across Europe and the US have formed the Venture Climate Alliance aimed at supporting global climate goals.
According to ESG Today, the VCA is aimed at supporting global climate goals by encouraging and helping to facilitate net zero pathways for startups, and financing climate solutions.
The new alliance will form part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), a UN-backed climate-focused multi-trillion dollar coalition of financial institutions.
Launched in April 2021, GFANZ brings together several leading net zero groups representing sectors across the financial industry including asset owners and managers, banks, insurers, investment consultants, service providers and investors.
In joining the VCA, members subsequently agree to a series of commitments, including encouraging portfolio companies to set targets to achieve net zero alignment by 2050 or sooner and to provide them with assistance along their net zero pathways, as well as to achieve net zero emissions in their own operations – not including financed emissions – by 2030.
According to the VCA, the new alliance will also develop tools and best practices for the VC industry to collect and report on carbon emissions and climate impact data, and tools to help overcome the challenges of aligning early stage investments with net zero goals. The VCA stated that its commitments “will establish stage-dependent climate-aligned goals as a part of startups’ growth strategies, rather than as a late stage add-ons to business-as-usual operations.”
Prelude Ventures – a founder member of VCA – managing director Gabriel Kra said, “We invest in climate tech companies that are transforming multi-billion dollar industries. As public markets, asset managers, and policymakers implement 2050 decarbonization goals, disclosure of climate-related risks, carbon emissions, and impact will matter for everyone– including those at the earliest stages of business building. As investors, it’s our role to prepare our teams for the realities of the markets that they’re operating in.”
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