Climate Asset Management (CAM) has raised over $1 billion for natural capital projects, including regenerative agriculture. Although still a niche market, demand from asset owners to invest in areas like soil health, tree planting, and land rehabilitation has surged following global commitments to protect biodiversity. The Global Biodiversity Framework, often called the Paris Agreement for nature, calls for at least $200 billion annually in public and private funding to bridge the nature-related finance gap.
CAM, a joint venture between HSBC’s asset management arm and advisory firm Pollination, reported strong demand from financial investors and companies for its Natural Capital Fund and Nature-Based Carbon Fund, which are now closed to new investors. The Restore Fund, developed by CAM and Apple, remains open with around $280 million.
Notable backers of CAM’s funds include German insurer Gothaer Asset Management, which contributed $100 million. The Nature-Based Carbon Fund, aimed at generating carbon credits through landscape restoration, has seen significant interest from companies like GSK.
CEO Martin Berg said that nature as an asset class is gaining traction among institutional investors, partly driven by reporting requirements like the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which encourages companies to report their environmental impact. CAM has already allocated much of its raised capital and is performing “in line with expectations.” The firm plans to resume fundraising in 2025.
Berg said, “Reaching the milestone of our first $1 billion of commitments is a testimony to the vision of our founding shareholders and team. It is a huge vote of confidence for this new and emerging asset class from those forward-thinking organisations and institutional investors who have entrusted us with their investments and are committed to restoring biodiversity and repairing nature as they pursue their own decarbonisation strategies.”
He added, “Nature has for too long been taken for granted and we owe it to future generations to make amends and ensure that climate resilience and biodiversity gains are the principal objectives of our real asset portfolio offering a sustainable future for all. Importantly we’ve been able to demonstrate that this capital can be deployed in a way that we expect will achieve investment objectives while enhancing outcomes for the climate, nature and communities.”