14 July 2022 / published on Environmental Finance

A report on valuing nature by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) illustrates that investors need to look beyond financial considerations to capture its intrinsic value.

The result of a four-year assessment by 82 scientists, the report has been approved by 139 member states of the IPBES. It is titled: Decisions Based on Narrow Set of Market Values of Nature Underpin the Global Biodiversity Crisis.

Helen Crowley, partner at natural capital-focused investment advisory firm Pollination, told Environmental Finance: “The thing that is interesting about this report is it highlights there are many different stakeholder views on the value of nature.”

The IPBES found that only 2% out of more than 1,000 studies reviewed consulted stakeholders on valuation findings. Nature valuing methods were rarely used to tackle power imbalances of stakeholders in nature, such as Indigenous Peoples, the platform said.

Approximately 80% of biodiversity is managed by Indigenous Peoples or local communities, Crowley said. “They’re close to this, they depend on it.”

07 July 2022 / published on ESG Investor

We are now at the tipping point of nature-based carbon solutions, says Phil Cohn, Executive Director, Pollination.

Investment into nature-based solutions (NBS) must play a critical role in mitigating the twin crises of climate change and nature loss. Interest in such solutions has been increasing over the past 12-18 months along with a significant uplift in the voluntary carbon market (VCM). This has primarily been led by corporates’ commitments to net zero targets as well as private-sector investors diversify their portfolios to include carbon credits as a tradable asset.

The VCM is now poised to channel significant financial flows to emission reduction and removal activities, including NBS. The value of the voluntary market hit US$1 billion in 2021 and is forecast to hit over US$1.5 billion by the end of this year.

06 July 2022 / published on Australian Financial Review

A KPMG survey published late last month found that more than a quarter of Australian companies had reported no material exposure to environmental or social risks.

When it comes to climate change, much of the focus of companies and directors has been on mitigation and the need to drastically reduce emissions.

It’s an understandable response, says company director and former banking regulator Geoff Summerhayes, given the global push to keep the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

“Climate change is permanent, and it is going to be disorderly,” says Summerhayes, a senior adviser to specialist climate change advisory and investment firm Pollination. “We need to think about how we’re going to live in a warmer world.”

01 July 2022 / published on Aldersgate Group

James Cameron, Senior Advisor at Pollination, outlines why the UK Infrastructure Bank must lead the way in delivering net zero and nature restoration – and discusses how this can be achieved in practice through new policy measures.

22 June 2022 / published on Australian Financial Review

It’s no secret the capital is rushing towards anything with a sustainability or ESG angle – and now, so too, is the investment talent.

Street Talk understands TCorp, NSW’s financial markets arm, has lost its head of real assets and private market Diana Callebaut to climate change investment and advisory firm Pollination.

Callebaut, the former head of infrastructure at Cbus Super Fund, was a big name hire for TCorp only two years ago, but it is understood she started at Pollination as head of investments this week.

So too did former OneVentures and BlackRock COO Shane Flatman, who joined Pollination as chief financial officer.

Another hire was Rob Grant, formerly CEO of renewables group Pacific Hydro and later Fortescue Future Industries, who is Pollination’s head of projects.

20 June 2022 / published on Venture Capital Journal

Pollination is targeting $6bn for a series of funds focused on natural carbon sequestration in a joint venture with HSBC Asset Management.