Direct investment and the Energy Observer
Technological development will play a huge role in any successful response to climate change. By investing in projects like the Energy Observer, Groupe BPCE hopes to evolve a knowledge base it can also use to assist clients across the group – particularly corporate and institutional customers served by Natixis CIB.
The Energy Observer is the world’s first hydrogen powered, zero emission vessel to be energy self-sufficient. Launched in Paris in July 2017, it is on a global Odyssey to explore, learn about and search for new ways of improving humans’ way of life. BPCE is one of four main partners.
Janie Wittey, chief executive and senior country manager at Natixis CIB in Australia, visited Energy Observer at its latest port of call, Singapore, where it docked in March-April 2022. She explains that the project is about more than the boat itself. “The idea is that we can learn from the technology and R&D but also the funding side, with the goal of embedding the knowledge gained into our credit risk policies and financing operations.”
Hydrogen power is just one of the technological innovations that could be a game-changer in the transition to net zero. Even some of the most emissions-intensive industries can have transition hopes with the right commitment to investment in technology.
We are not going to get everything right, but while there will be failures along the way there will also be spectacular successes. What we know for sure is that technology and R&D play a massive part in all of us achieving the goals we have set ourselves in the medium and longer term.
For instance, the head of Natixis CIB’s APAC green and sustainable hub, Olivier Menard, says there are emerging solutions for the steel industry that may make it possible for the industrial process to be less carbon emitting.
In aviation, he continues, while there is no technology that will allow net zero flight today “tomorrow may be different – or at least 2040 or 2050 might be”. In the meantime, sustainable aviation fuel will be a big part of the decarbonisation drive, while businesses in the sector can also decarbonise their overall operations.
Projects like the Energy Observer give Natixis CIB skin in the game in this critical development process. Wittey comments: “It is not just about expecting our clients to tell us what they are doing and hoping we can understand their R&D. We are investing for ourselves, in part so we are able to make informed judgements. Ultimately, we have to embed the technology piece within our business so we can work with our clients as they do the same.”
Natixis CIB is not necessarily trying to pick winners – at least not at the earlier phases of R&D. “We are not going to get everything right, but while there will be failures along the way there will also be spectacular successes,” Wittey tells KangaNews Sustainable Finance. “What we know for sure is that technology and R&D play a massive part in all of us achieving the goals we have set ourselves in the medium and longer term.”
