BOARDROOM
The Bahamas refinances $300mn in debt-for-nature swap
The government of the Bahamas has announced plans to refinance $300mn of its external debt, to make $124mn available for conservation. Projects will focus on mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass meadows, which provide buffers during hurricane seasons. The scheme, which lasts 15 years, will see the Bahamas buy back its debt at lower interest rates, and an endowment fund will ensure that ecological projects continue once this period ends. Similar deals have already been signed by a number of climate-vulnerable emerging economies, including Carribean neighbour Barbados. The areas protected by these deals are now larger than the Gulf of Mexico.
Deep-sea ‘water farms‘ firm OceanWell clinches $11mn
American water-tech startup OceanWell has announced the successful close of $11mn in Series A funding to support a pilot deep-sea ‘freshwater farm’. These farms are made of pods that use the pressure at depths up to 400m to filter seawater and make it drinkable. Each pod can produce up to 1mn gallons of freshwater daily.
These farms reduce energy consumption by up to 40% compared to traditional desalination, and have a minimal impact on marine life. As water demand continues to increase globally, OceanWell is under pressure to scale-up within the next few years.
Blue Bear announces $200mn in funding for AI-Climate Startups
Venture capitalists Blue Bear Capital have secured $200mn to support startups using AI across the energy, infrastructure and climate sectors. This news comes as Bloomberg reports a fall in investment for climate tech of 50%, as investors increasingly move to AI opportunities. However, the growth of this industry has had an ambivalent effect of the green transition, as the outsized energy needs of AI data centres have increased demand on grids, and called the fossil fuel phase-out into question. With the potential for green innovation by AI, particularly in weather prediction and grid optimisation, investors such as Blue Bear are increasingly looking for synergy between these two sectors.
BlueEarth commits $11mn to Namibian maternity healthcare specialist
Leading impact investor BlueEarth Capital has committed $11mn to Rhino Park Holdings, a private hospital in Namibia providing maternity and neonatal healthcare. The investment, BlueEarth’s first foray into the health sector, will be used to expand the hospital, including a best-in-class operating theatre, a primary healthcare centre and MRI facilities. Namibia currently has the second highest rate of maternal mortality among upper-middle-income countries. Rhino Park has worked to solve this crisis, through in-house student placement programmes, and supporting study loans for its nursing staff, and is now the second-largest private hospital in the country.
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