Matching opportunity with experience, our recently established Decarbonisation Ventures team aims to discover and accelerate climate positive innovations for decarbonisation through investment, industry collaborations and advocacy.

Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. Tackling the transition to a decarbonised world calls for transformative shifts in behaviours, strategies and investment decisions.

At Anglo American, we are committed to making a meaningful contribution – not only through the application of decarbonisation measures in our own operations but also by supporting the development of solutions in areas beyond our direct remit.

The Decarbonisation Ventures team is a central part of this approach. The team’s objective is to use targeted investments and commercial partnerships to support companies developing climate positive innovations for decarbonisation. Examples of these innovations include:

• Emissions removal technology for greenhouse gas capture, utilisation and storage
• Green steel pathways, such as hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron ore and other new steel-making technologies
• New clean energy generation sources – and the storage solutions to enhance their impact
• New materials, and initiatives to decarbonise the production, use, and efficient recycling of existing materials

Building and investing in new ventures is only one part of the team’s remit. They will also look to invest in climate technology funds, as well as creating the conditions – across our network of customers, partners and suppliers – to accelerate the application of decarbonisation technology.

Anglo American has been involved in venture capital for almost a decade. We set up our Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) Investment Programme in 2014 and spun it out to independent management in 2018 as AP Ventures, a fund that primarily focuses on the role hydrogen and PGMs can play in decarbonising energy. More recently, we have also co-founded start-ups such as Supercritical and Mission Zero.

Explaining the decision to establish the Decarbonisation Ventures team, Peter Whitcutt, CEO of Anglo American’s Marketing Business, said:

“Tackling climate change is a major challenge for us all. We believe that making a meaningful impact requires extending our expertise and resources to support decarbonisation efforts beyond our direct areas of influence.

“Building on Anglo American’s successful venturing track record, this new fund complements our well-established portfolio of market development activities, further cementing our role leading change and unlocking progress to shape a lower carbon future for our company, our customers and industry more broadly.”

Potential investments are assessed against several criteria, including: a strong management team; ability to disrupt; support for Anglo American’s sustainability objectives; and, most importantly, the potential for decarbonisation.

By investing in cutting-edge technological advances and broad innovative thinking, this team will help address one of the world’s most pressing challenges, benefitting society and positioning Anglo American, our customers and our value chain at the forefront of positive change.

If you are interested in broader collaboration on emissions reduction, want to share an exciting technology, or would like to know more about the work of the Decarbonisation Ventures team, please reach out to us at: [email protected].