New Zealand Green Investment Finance

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Member Overview

New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) is Aotearoa New Zealand’s Crown-owned green investment bank, established to accelerate investment that reduces domestic greenhouse gas emissions. It is committed to using its capital to make a difference in moving New Zealand toward a low-carbon future.

NZGIF currently has $700 million investment capital and makes equity and debt investments in projects that support decarbonization across a variety of sectors.

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 catalyze low-emissions opportunities. NZGIF works with the investment community and all market participants to accelerate the flow of private capital, with the support of government, toward 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 is listed in Schedule 4A of the Public Finance Act 1989[1]. The minister of finance and minister for climate change each hold 50 percent of NZGIF’s issued share capital.

NZGIF is not a registered bank.

[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.

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
Show market leadership

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.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NZGIF'S TRANSACTIONS

Impact

NZGIF intends to invest in projects that will enable Aotearoa New Zealand’s decarbonization. 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.

Additional References

Visit NZGIF’s website for more information.
Read NZGIF’s publications, including the latest NZGIF Annual Report.
Connect with NZGIF on LinkedIn and subscribe to its email list to receive regular updates.