Partners Group, a global private markets firm, has signed a 13-year carbon removal agreement with Climeworks. Under the agreement, Climeworks will remove more than 7,000 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere on Partners Group’s behalf, which will be permanently stored underground.
The DAC agreement with Climeworks is heralded as a significant step for Partners Group, which announced in 2022 that it would develop a decarbonisation program to achieve net zero corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. While a priority of the program will be to reduce the firm’s overall emissions, removing residual emissions via capture and storage of atmospheric CO2 will also play a role in achieving the net zero goal. The agreement with Climeworks is Partners Group’s first adoption of a technology-based solution to address GHG emissions and sits alongside the firm’s growing portfolio of nature-based solutions, such as reforestation, which also contribute to enhancing biodiversity.
Partners Group co-led a CHF 600 million fundraising round in Climeworks in 2022 on behalf of its clients. As it does with all portfolio companies, the firm is currently working with the Climeworks management team and other investors with a focus on addressing the massive scale up the industry requires.
“The agreement with Climeworks reflects Partners Group’s focus on sustainability and its commitment to achieving positive stakeholder impact over the long term. Our aim is to be a sustainability leader in private markets, by driving forward positive change at the companies under our stewardship, and also by playing a leading corporate role in the transition to a net zero global economy,” said David Layton, partner and chief executive officer, Partners Group, commented.
“We are proud to welcome our investor Partners Group as a client and to support their journey toward net zero,” said Christoph Gebald, co-CEO and co-founder of Climeworks. “High-quality carbon removal must be scaled to gigaton level by 2050, and multi-year agreements like this one are a crucial lever. Partners Group’s commitment to high-quality carbon removals underlines the leading role of the financial services industry in this scale-up. As one of the global leaders in private markets, Partners Group sends a strong signal, which will hopefully inspire more companies to take action on carbon removal.”
