New report: Nysnø`s investments will avoid 7 million tonnes CO2 emissions by 2030

Stavanger, 20th June 2023

In March, Nysnø launched the report “How to measure climate impact”, outlining a methodology for calculating avoided greenhouse gas emissions. Now, the method has been applied to Nysnø´s own portfolio, and the company’s direct investments are estimated to contribute to 7.2 million tonnes avoided CO₂ emissions by 2030.

These numbers are presented in Nysnø’s inaugural climate impact report, that highlights how the portfolio companies contribute to mitigating future greenhouse gas emissions through innovative climate technologies and solutions.

Avoided emissions or scope 4 emissions are a quantification of the greenhouse gas emissions that will not be released into, or removed from the atmosphere due to a climate technology compared to the current solution. The cumulative avoided emissions of our investments in 2030 are estimated to be 7.2 million tonnes CO2e.

Accounting avoided emissions is in the early stages of development and Nysnø has collaborated with other prominent climate investors in Project FRAME to develop a standard method for calculating both realised and forward-looking avoided emissions.

“We have identified and quantified the different climate effects provided by our portfolio companies and now we for the first time publish the impact of our portfolio towards 2030. The calculations include both realized and estimated future CO₂reductions based on realistic growth projections for the respective companies, adjusted for our ownership share”, says Jean Baptiste Curien, Director Climate Technology in Nysnø.

Through its portfolio of companies and funds, Nysnø directly and indirectly has contributed with growth capital to more than 185 companies. It’s important to note that the methodology is applied to Nysnø´s direct investments and does not include the fund investments. However, Nysnø is committed to incorporating the climate impact also of the indirect portfolio into future assessments. Nysnø has set clear goals and specific climate targets for the portfolio, and this is described in Nysnø´s annual report for 2022.

The investment community is increasingly dedicated to reducing emissions and we believe that avoided emissions will become a key metric that will be used to measure the performance of companies. As investors, we calculate financial returns based on expected future cash flow and risk. It’s time to adopt this mindset for calculating climate impact.

“Our long-term goal towards 2050 is to contribute with growth capital to hundreds of climate technology companies that collectively contribute to realizing a net zero emissions society”, Jean Baptiste concludes.

Nysnø hopes that this report will inspire the ecosystem to get started with avoided emissions accounting.

Read the inaugural climate impact report 2022 here.

Read the methodology on calculating climate impact here.