By Simon Jessop
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Spanish lender BBVA (BME:BBVA) and U.S. investor KKR said on Friday they had formed a strategic partnership focused on investments linked to the world's climate-driven transition to a low-carbon economy.
BBVA will invest $200 million in KKR's Global Climate Strategy, the companies said in a joint statement during New York Climate Week, and the initiative will also look into finding climate infrastructure-related investments.
"We are confident that the second part of this decade will see strong growth of new low-carbon infrastructures. It is an immense opportunity, said BBVA's global head of sustainability and corporate & investment banking at BBVA, Javier Rodriguez Soler.
The KKR tie-up will be a "key piece" of the bank's sustainability strategy, he added, as it seeks to become a leader in finance and advisory services to clients in the U.S. and Europe.
"With KKR’s proven experience in this area, we will share knowledge across our teams, capabilities and efforts in this strategic alliance in order to multiply investments in infrastructure and climate projects," Soler said.
BBVA said sustainability is one of its six strategic priorities, helped by a global financing unit specialising in clean technology innovation with offices in New York, London, Madrid and Houston.
To date, KKR has made three investments from its climate strategy, including in UK-based transport electrification and battery storage solutions provider Zenobe and U.S. utility-scale solar and solar-plus-storage developer Avantus.
"We are still in the early innings of what will be a multi-decade transition to net zero (carbon emissions), which is one of the biggest investment opportunities of our time and requires participation from across the financial sector," said Emmanuel Lagarrigue, co-head of KKR's global climate strategy.
"We are delighted to collaborate with BBVA given their industry-leading presence within the renewables sector and their deep commitment to mitigating the impacts of climate change."