Octopus Energy Investments rebrands as Octopus Renewables

Octopus Energy Investments has today announced a rebrand to become Octopus Renewables, in a move it claims will better communicate its work as a specialist clean energy investor.

Octopus said the rebrand, which takes immediate effect from today, is "intended to more accurately reflect the business' core mission - to accelerate the transition to a future powered by renewable energy".

Octopus Renewables manages more than £3bn of assets globally, including large swathes of onshore wind and solar capacity across Europe and Australia.

Mark Setchell, co-head of Octopus Renewables, said the decision to change the firm's name became "obvious" as the size of its renewables investment business grew.

"We look forward to building on the huge success of the UK's energy market, exporting our expertise to new markets and breaking down the barriers for the crucial investment in the sector," he added.

Meeting global climate goals is expected to require a doubling of investment in renewable energy over the next decade, from $304bn in 2018 to $606bn by 2030.

Investors are expressing a growing interest in low-carbon investment, but financial flows into clean energy are still falling well short of what is thought to be needed under the Paris Agreement.

However, there are signs the financial sector is beginning to reshape its approach to clean energy investment in light of changing market sentiments.

Last week the London Stock Exchange re-labelled a group of oil and gas companies as "non-renewable" in its FTSE Russell index, meaning UK-listed oil and gas firms such as BP and Shell are no longer grouped under the banner 'Oil & Gas' producers, while green energy firms have been reclassified from 'Alternative Energy' to 'Renewable Energy' producers.

Market watchers said the change served to highlight the growing importance of renewables and the extent to which financial markets are starting to recognise how clean energy should becomg the default option for energy providers as the global economy attempts to decarbonise.