(Sept 23): Brookfield Asset Management has raised an initial US$2.4 billion (RM10.1 billion) for a fund dedicated to investing in clean energy and transition assets in emerging markets, about halfway to its goal.

Investors in the Catalytic Transition Fund (CTF) include Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd, Prudential, Temasek Holdings and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, which is Canada’s second-largest public pension manager, according to a statement seen by Bloomberg News. 

“The support from the world’s most sophisticated investors for the CTF strategy underscores the unique combination of the major commercial opportunity and the climate imperative,” Mark Carney, the chair of Brookfield Asset Management and head of its transition investing group, said in the statement. Carney is also the chair of Bloomberg Inc. 

Investments in emerging markets need to increase sixfold from current levels to reach the US$1.6 trillion needed annually by the early 2030s to meet global net zero targets, Brookfield said. The fund expects to announce its initial investments later in 2024.

The fund, which targets US$5 billion, was introduced at the COP28 climate change conference, with as much as US$1 billion of capital provided by United Arab Emirates investment firm Alterra. Brookfield has committed to provide 10% of the target. 

Carney recently accepted a role as an adviser on economic policy to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party. Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre criticised Carney for doing so, alleging he is trying to dodge conflict-of-interest disclosures by taking on the work for a political party rather than for the government itself. 

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