The OnePlanetCapital Sustainable EIS fund aims to invest in businesses tackling climate change
Venture capital firm OnePlanetCapital has launched a specialist sustainability investment vehicle fund to invest in businesses tackling climate change, it announced today.
The new sustainably-driven investment house said the enterprise investment scheme (EIS) fund targets investments that will have a positive environmental impact, aiming to deliver market rate returns and support the emerging green economy.
The OnePlanetCapital fund aims to focus on three interrelated areas - climate change, the environment and consumer sustainability with each area underpinned by an ESG framework looking at environmental impact, social purpose and corporate governance in its investee companies, it said.
For environmental impact it the fund aims to look at factors such as climate change, emissions and pollution impact. Social factors, meanwhile, include working conditions, supply chains and stakeholder relations, and for corporate governance issues it will monitor board structure, accounting and audit quality, shareholder rights, and transparency.
Matthew Jellicoe, co-founder of OnePlanetCapital, said the global economy required "unprecedented change" in the coming years to combat the climate and environmental crises. "We are on the verge of a green industrial revolution and the world is waking up to the substantial changes needed to tackle the climate issues we face," he said.
"This has been amplified by numerous lockdowns over the last 11 months which have underlined the fragility of the world as we know it. Decarbonisation is now being backed by all major developed economies including the US and China and huge amounts are being invested in green energy, green technology and services," he added. "It is now clear that investment performance does not need to be sacrificed in order to tackle the environmental problems of the day, with UK sustainable funds likely to outperform the market over the short, medium and long term."
OnePlanetCapital was founded in 2019 by entrepreneurs Matthew Jellicoe and Ed Stevens, together with Tony Flanagan of Wilton Group.
The launch came as the Prince of Wales today launched a new 10-point green recovery charter dubbed the Terra Carta urging businesses worldwide to accelerate efforts to combat the escalating environmental and climate crises over the coming decade.