(Bloomberg) — Private investors face an historic opportunity to put their money into renewable energy assets given the global consensus that now exists around the urgent need for decarbonization, according to Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
“The market opportunity is truly massive,” Connor Teskey, chief executive of Renewable Power & Co-Head of Transition Investing at Brookfield, said at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit on Thursday.
The transition from old to new energy forms has investors everywhere placing bets on which technologies will emerge as the dominant power forms in an era dedicated to eliminating hydrocarbons and fighting global warming. Estimates of how much is needed to eradicate greenhouse gases over the next three decades range from $100 trillion to $150 trillion.
“The majority of that capital is going to need to come from private capital,” Teskey said. “Public government balance sheets simply cannot sustain that level of investment. But the private markets absolutely can.”
Though the stakes are high, the rewards are likely to be, too. “Given the very attractive commercial opportunities in investing in renewables and investing in transition, we would expect that that capital does show up from the private sector and shows up in spades,” Teskey said.
Brookfield, which oversees $650 billion, hired former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney last year to strengthen its environmental, social and governance investing. Earlier this week, the asset manager said it now expects to raise more than $15 billion for its new impact fund, exceeding a previous forecast of $12.5 billion.
Chief Executive Officer Bruce Flatt said the amount raised “could have been more,” but the firm capped the size of the fund, indicating “the interest in transition investing,” he said.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
