The mission of Aquila Group is to become one of the world’s leading sustainable investment and development companies for essential assets by 2030.1 Our focus on clean energy in the form of wind energy, solar PV, hydro power and battery storage, sustainable infrastructure such as green logistics and data centres, and development of new asset classes like carbon forestry, energy efficiency and growth equity in climate change mitigation, is crucial to the world’s transition to Net Zero.
To show commitment to our mission, we set a group wide goal to avoid 1.5 bn tonnes of CO2e by 2035 in our portfolio's lifetime, which is equivalent to 4 % of 2021 CO2e worldwide emissions.2
By 2030 we aim to be:
We plan to achieve this goal by initiating, developing, and managing essential assets along their entire value chain and through their full lifecycle, around the world. In essence, our goal is to develop, construct, operate and manage all our assets for the long term and work to provide appropriate returns to all our stakeholders. Inherent in our focus on ‘climate action’ (SDG 13), is our commitment to mobilise capital to all related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as ‘affordable and clean energy’ (SDG 7), ‘industry, innovation and infrastructure’ (SDG 9), and ‘sustainable cities and communities’ (SDG 11). We support these SDGs through the achievement of our commitment. For more information, please refer to “Our disclosures”.
The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), aims to develop supply chain transparency and strengthen confidence in how, where and by whom solar products and components are manufactured. One of the key bodies behind the SSI is SolarPower Europe (SPE). In 2022 we became a member of SPE, along with other key stakeholders in the solar value chain, from polysilicon producers to independent power producers.
We became a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment in 2018. By signing, we have committed to integrate the six principles for responsible investment throughout our investment process. Additionally, we are contributing to developing a more sustainable global financial system and sustainable environment and society by implementing these principles.
As a signatory of CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) since 2017, we support companies‘ drive for climate-conscious behaviour. CDP is a non-profit organization founded in 2000 that publishes environmental data on enterprises and communities and manages the largest database of this kind worldwide.
Aquila Capital became a GRESB member. GRESB assesses the sustainability performance of real estate and infrastructure portfolios and assets worldwide.
We launched our first United Nations Environment Programme-certified agriculture fund. By signing, we openly recognize the role of the financial services sector in making the world’s economy and lifestyles sustainable and commit to the integration of environmental and social considerations into all aspects of operations.
1 Essential assets include anything related to expanding or renovating the world’s low-carbon infrastructure. Currently this includes clean energy (wind energy, solar pv, hydropower and battery storage), sustainable infrastructure (green logistics and green data centres) and specialty asset classes such as carbon forestry, energy efficiency, and growth equity in climate change mitigation.
2 Worldwide CO2e emissions in 2021 were 40.8 billion tonnes according to the International Energy Association (IEA)