Amidst the general air of chaos and foreboding pervading global financial markets, green investment is starting to turn its eyes to Asian and European collaboration.
According to Trevor Thomas, managing director of Ethinvest, anything that is market-linked is currently volatile including green bonds and climate bonds that have exposure to the general financial market.
Bonds are directly affected by interest rates, Thomas says, so too for green bonds, which are funding instruments for renewables and decarbonisation, as much as for any other bond.
So green investments are not, as a general category, a definitive safe harbour in “this moment of turmoil” however, climate finance for projects such as renewable energy climate adaptation or climate mitigation initiatives is still going ahead.
Companies may be less public about their commitments in the age of Trump, but they realise renewables offer the lowest cost solutions and continue to decarbonise their supply chains.
Exhibit A – the REZ
An example is the first of the New South Wales Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) projects in Western NSW. The Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone is being delivered by ACEREZ partnership, comprising ACCIONA, Grupo Cobra and Endeavour Energy. The state owned entity, EnergyCo, has appointed the consortium as network operator to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the network.
The project’s total financing costs have achieved pre-issuance certification under the Climate Bonds Standard for its green loan.
“ACEREZ’s green loan will accelerate the decarbonisation of NSW’s energy system while setting a bold new standard for green finance in the country and beyond. This is a transformative moment for the region’s clean energy transition,” CBI chief executive Sean Kidney said.
“(The) loan represents a positive step in scaling up sustainable finance in Australia … (and) highlights the growing investor appetite for credible green investments in Oceania.”
Austrade facilitating capital inflows
Both ACCIONA and Cobra have their financial roots in Europe. Austrade has been working with Cobra for over a decade assisting the European business in finding a solid niche in Australia.
In 2021 it focused efforts on the NSW Transmission line project, providing insight on the electricity transmission network, information on grants and state and federal electricity transmission initiatives, guidance on Australian business practices and regulations and introductions to relevant professional networks.
Austrade investment director in Madrid, Elena Laburu, said in a media statement last year that European investors are playing a key role in progressing Australia’s energy transition.
“The Australian government’s plan to achieve net zero by 2050 will require the installation of 10,000 kilometresof new transmission infrastructure to integrate renewable energy into the grid. Spanish companies such as Cobra, with extensive experience in grid infrastructure projects, are well positioned to help Australia become a renewable energy superpower,” Laburu said.
The hunger for clean, green opportunities
A quick scan of recent announcements by Austrade shows that Asia and Europe are both demonstrating appetite for investments and partnerships for research, scaling up manufacturing and new project financing across materials, greentech, renewables and decarbonisation.
They have included the acquisition by Japan-based Yamaha Motors of Australian agritech startup The Yield as part of the formation of Yamaha Agriculture, a tech-based enterprise aiming to improve sustainability in the global agricultural sector.
In February, Austrade announced that four major Japanese corporations have invested in Australian cleantech company MCi Carbon, which is pioneering mineral carbonation technology that utilises carbon capture and utilisation in green concrete production.
Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation (MUCC), ITOCHU Corporation, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank as investors in MCi Carbon have all made investments in the new business, with the aim of advancing adoption of the technology in Japan to accelerate decarbonisation of the nation’s construction sector.
The $5 million invested by MUCC will contribute to MCi’s new factory in Newcastle reaching the commissioning stage in the coming months.
Stable, safe and smart
There are numerous other examples in recent months of money from Asia and Europe gaining support from the Australian government in finding a clean, green niche. At a presentation at the international Climate Investor Forum held in Melbourne in March, Austrade’s general manager, investment, Peter Horn moderated a panel that discussed Australia’s advantages, even in turbulent times.
The panel noted a recent UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific report which showed that Australia attracted the largest volume of greenfield foreign direct investment inflows in the Asia-Pacific region in 2024. This represented a 52 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
Austrade says that Australia’s fundamentals “make it a prime destination for climate investing.”
“These include our abundant and diverse natural resources, stable economic performance, and position as a trusted energy partner in the region.”
Asia-Pacific doubles down
And in our wider Asia-Pacific region, the momentum of collaboration and cooperation is building.
Next week (April 10-11) in Kuala Lumpur, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network (ESBN), in collaboration with the KSI Strategic Institute for Asia-Pacific are hosting the Asia-Pacific Business Forum 2025, which has been themed “Advancing Sustainability, Enhancing Partnership for the Asia-Pacific Green Deal”.
Keynote speakers for the invitation-only event are coming from across the region including Thailand, China, Singapore, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Brunei, Timor-Leste, Malaysia, India and the Philippines, and represent stakeholder sectors including business, government and NGOs.
Collaboration is the life raft
The sense that cooperation and collaboration is the primary survival tactic for the economies of nations outside the USA is visible in the new partnerships and alliances being formed almost overnight.
The images of the trade ministers of China, Japan and South Korea standing together that flew around the world in recent days, for example, would have been “unimaginable” before the advent of the Trump era, said Thomas.
Trump’s “wrecking behaviour” means we are already seeing greater cooperation in Europe and Asia.
“Europe is already looking to increase trade with other partners,” Thomas says.
There might also be greater economic activity between nations in our Asia-Pacific region.
“Europe and Asia offer promise, and there is plenty of hope there, and a significant appetite for green technology and investments.”
Demand will also see the price of innovative products and technologies decline.
Keeping the faith
“Good things will come out of this,” Thomas says.
“Also, while there have been many companies publicly backing down from DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and climate commitments (in the US and elsewhere), many are still quietly getting on with green investments, decarbonisation and employment practices that support a diverse workforce.”
While the market slide right now is affecting the share price of green listed companies to some degree, Thomas says in the long term, sustainable investments are “still the safest place to be”.
Sustainability-aligned offshore businesses entering Australia are also expressing positive sentiments. As José María Castillo, CEO of Grupo Cobra said in the Austrade media statement, “Cobra is here to stay, and we are committed to Australia and its people.”