By Coalition for Green Capital
The Coalition for Green Capital (CGC), in partnership with the Green Bank Network (GBN), is excited to announce the release of a new report exploring the potential for foundations and Green Banks to partner by using foundation Program Related Investments (PRI) to support Green Bank activities.
As the impacts of climate change continue to accelerate, the need for greater investment in clean energy technologies is becoming increasingly apparent. Since public dollars cannot bridge the massive funding gap alone, Green Banks have traditionally used public sector capital to leverage increased private sector investment. The collective capital formation driven by that intersection has been impressive, but the pace of climate change is driving the need to expand the investment capital for Green Banks in the United States. Impact capital represents a natural, “third leg” of the capital stool for driving greater climate investments at Green Banks in the US. This paper seeks to explore the most effective ways that Green Banks and their foundation partners can harness the potential of impact capital.
The emergence of impact investing by philanthropic foundations, in particular their use of PRI, is proving fertile ground for expanding the pool of capital to a host of socially-oriented endeavors. This paper uncovers evidence that these green shoots of investment are starting to take hold within Green Bank activities. This paper aims to highlight potential practices and financial structures that can catalyze greater climate-related investment through Green Banks.
The paper is the result of CGC’s conversations with foundations and its review of selected case studies of existing Green Bank PRIs among GBN members and similar entities in the US. The paper presents these case studies as examples of Green Banks acting as effective and capable intermediaries of PRI capital.
Despite the successful use of Green Banks to deploy PRI capital, the PRI capital deployed to date represents only the beginning of what could be possible. With continued innovation in and collaboration on financial structures, along with maturation in the overall PRI space, Green Banks are well-positioned to scale PRI investments in the future. Such investment will allow both foundations and Green Banks to make important progress towards the investment targets needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
CGC is committed to helping Green Banks scale and develop their investment capabilities. As part of this work, CGC welcomes partners to further develop the opportunity to deploy PRI investments through Green Banks. For more information on partnership opportunities, please contact CGC at cgc@cgcstagingsite.wpengine.com.
