Whether or not we want to acknowledge it, we’re in a new era of climate investing. Unprecedented uncertainty, federal policy upheaval in the United States, repeated energy shocks from wars, inflation, high interest rates, a persisting liquidity crunch, the AI data center boom – much has happened, the game has changed and investors are thinking very differently about climate than they did just a few years ago. 

Three expert climate finance advisors who have worked in climate finance for decades set out to understand what has changed in climate investing. Dan Firger, Will Coleman, and Bill Tarr are highly respected thought leaders and strategic advisors working with large family offices, foundations and prominent climate investors. They teamed up and interviewed over 150 investors and experts to develop Climate Capital Reset Project, a detailed account of the new thinking defining this new era of climate investing. We spoke about the trends reshaping climate finance today, emerging dynamics, recommendations for capital allocators, considerations for philanthropists, and much more. Dan, Will, and Bill’s report will likely be one of the most influential pieces written on climate finance this year. It’s already the basis for closed-door consultations and convenings with prominent investors, and our conversation shed incredible light on the new paradigms already driving climate finance today.

On today’s episode, we cover:

• 03:01 – Guest Introductions & Backgrounds
• 06:04 – Why the Climate Capital Reset Project Now?
• 08:55 – Trend #1: Unprecedented Market Uncertainty
• 11:13 – Trend #2: AI, Data Centers & the Grid
• 13:23 – Trend #3: Liquidity Crunch & the Missing Middle
• 15:42 – Trend #4: Narratives, Labels & Climate Messaging
• 17:24 – How We Talk About Climate & Climate Investing
• 19:37 – Theme: ‘Ruthless Pragmatism’ in Climate Capital
• 24:00 – Shaping Winners Through Consolidation
• 26:57 – Domestic vs. International: Who Captures the Upside?
• 27:31 – Blended Finance: Misuse, Scarcity & Focus
• 30:48 – Examples of Effective Blended Finance
• 31:56 – Geographic Arbitrage & Emerging Markets
• 34:37 – Corporates’ Role in Climate Tech & Scale
• 38:05 – War in the Middle East, Energy Shocks & Resilience
• 43:24 – New Investment Models & Insurance Innovation
• 46:24 – Long-Duration, Asset-Heavy Climate Businesses
• 48:43 – A Narrow Window for a Climate Capital Reset
• 50:41 – What’s Next for the Climate Capital Reset Project
• 51:41 – Closing & Call to Action

Resources Mentioned

• Climate Capital Reset Project
• Builder’s Vision
• Intersect Power
• Lineage Logistics
• Devoted Health
• Fervo Energy
• Frontier
• Microsoft Carbon Removal
• PJM Interconnection
• ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas)
• USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development)
• Bloomberg Philanthropies
• ReGen Ventures
• More Davidow Ventures (MDV)

Connect with us

• Dan Firger
• Will Coleman
• Bill Tarr
• Jason Rissman

Keep up with Invested In Climate

• Sign up for our Newsletter (Other Future)
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

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