Overview
New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) is a green investment bank established by the Crown to accelerate investment that reduces domestic greenhouse gas emissions. It is committed to using its capital to make a difference in moving New Zealand towards a low carbon future.
New Zealand’s transition to a low emissions economy requires a major reorientation of public and private investment away from emissions-intensive activities to those that support and catalyse low emissions opportunities. This is why NZGIF was created.
NZGIF works with the investment community and all market participants to accelerate the flow of private capital, with the support of government, towards low emissions investment.
As a limited liability company independent of government, NZGIF makes its own investment decisions, informed by a board and team with expertise in investment, financial markets and sustainability.
NZGIF was incorporated as a company in April 2019 with an initial NZD$100 million of investment capital and is listed in Schedule 4A of the Public Finance Act 1989[1]. The Minister of Finance and Minister for Climate Change each hold 50% of NZGIF’s issued share capital.
NZGIF is not a registered bank.
Activities
NZGIF’s purpose is to accelerate and facilitate investment in emissions reductions in New Zealand. To support this purpose, NZGIF has four objectives:
- Invest to reduce emissions
- Invest on a commercial basis
- Crowd-in private capital
- Market leadership and demonstration
With a broad and flexible mandate, NZGIF can invest in any part of the capital structure, from debt to equity, with the ability to mitigate risks for co-investors. It seeks to combine its capital with other investors on a commercial basis in companies projects, and technologies that accelerate emissions reductions.
Due to the unique nature of New Zealand’s emissions profile, with its already highly renewable electricity grid, NZGIF is interested in other sectors that have the potential to achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions, such as transport, building and system energy efficiency, process heat in manufacturing, and agriculture. It is primarily looking at opportunities at scale or scalable that can achieve substantial emissions reductions. The focus is on investment that can deploy NZD$5-25 million of NZGIF capital over the life of the investment.
Impact
NZGIF intends to invest in projects that will have a low carbon impact, but this impact may vary from project to project depending on the nature of the project. NZGIF will use various approaches and methodologies to measure green impact, both qualitative and quantitative. The green impact of NZGIF’s investments can be direct emissions reductions, for example, an investment that results in an EV replacing an internal combustion engine vehicle, or indirect e.g. financing electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
[1] Schedule 4A companies, as they are known, are limited liability companies, wholly or majorly owned by the Crown, not listed on a registered market.
Last Updated December 14, 2020
