During a special session at the World Governments Summit (WGS) 2024, Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, COP28 director-general and the CEO of ALTÉRRA, a climate investment fund valued at AED110 billion ($30 billion), expressed the fund’s ambition to become the top choice for facilitating the climate transition. Launched during COP28, ALTÉRRA’s structure, scale, scope, and emphasis on innovation and partnerships empower it to guide private markets towards climate investments and drive transformation in emerging markets and developing economies.
The UAE has committed $30 billion to ALTÉRRA, making it the largest private investment vehicle globally for climate change action. The fund’s goal is to mobilize AED920 billion ($250 billion) globally by 2030, Al Suwaidi said during the session.
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The panel session included notable figures such as Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, executive director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF); Rajiv Dhar, board member of the National Infrastructure Investment Fund and head of the U.S. India Green Fund; Arvind Ramamurthy, chief market development officer at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM); Samir Suleymanov, director of finance at COP28.
Focus on the Global South
Ambassador Al Suwaidi explained that the vision for ALTÉRRA originated from the COP28 Presidency’s Action Agenda, which focused on making climate finance more accessible, affordable, and available for everyone. The aim is to remove barriers that hinder investment, particularly in the Global South. ALTÉRRA plays a critical role in the COP28 Presidential Action Plan by directing climate investment towards the solutions and markets where it is most needed, he explained.
To maximize its impact and facilitate capital flows to address climate challenges, ALTÉRRA has been designed to be highly innovative, as mentioned by Ambassador Al Suwaidi.
For his part, ADGM’s Ramamurthy expressed pride in ADGM’s involvement with ALTÉRRA and the Global Climate Finance Centre (GCFC). He highlighted their commitment to catalyzing climate finance during global transitions and supporting the UAE’s net-zero targets.
Innovative two-part structure of ALTÉRRA
ALTÉRRA incorporates an innovative two-part structure. The first arm, ALTÉRRA ACCELERATION, with $25 billion, aims to channel capital into large-scale investments that expedite the transition to a net-zero and climate-resilient economy. The second arm, ALTÉRRA TRANSFORMATION, with $5 billion, provides risk mitigation capital to further incentivize investment flows into the Global South.
Progress made in fulfilling COP28 commitments
Al Suwaidi mentioned that ALTÉRRA has made significant progress in fulfilling its commitments made during COP28. Collaborating with BlackRock, Brookfield, and TPG as inaugural launch partners, ALTÉRRA has allocated $6.5 billion to climate-dedicated funds for global investments, including the Global South. The fund places a strong emphasis on the success of the Emerging Market transition funds launched in partnership with Brookfield and TPG. These funds are specifically designed to attract institutional capital to markets that have historically been underinvested.
Four key pillars of ALTÉRRA’s investments
Moreover, ALTÉRRA focuses its investments on four key pillars aligned with the priorities of the COP28 Action Agenda: the energy transition, industrial decarbonization, sustainable living, and climate technologies. COP28, overall, secured pledges for more than $85 billion in direct climate finance, with 11 pledges and declarations made under the Action Agenda.
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