Just Climate

Generation Investment Management seeded Just Climate in 2021 and remains its majority owner, but the firm operates as an independent entity with its own investment committee and partners. Shaun Kingsbury was recruited externally to serve as CIO, and the firm's governance ensures full investment independence from Generation. The structural relationship is more akin to a spinout with a cornerstone LP than a subsidiary.

Just Climate invests exclusively in growth-stage companies delivering decarbonization solutions for hard-to-abate industrial sectors — steel, cement, shipping, aviation, and heavy transport. This contrasts with the typical climate-tech fund, which skews toward software, carbon accounting, or consumer applications. The firm's thesis is that emission reductions in these heavy sectors produce outsized climate impact but require specialist technical and industrial underwriting.

Shaun Kingsbury, the Chief Investment Officer, leads the firm's investment activities with a dedicated internal team. The firm's investment committee operates independently of Generation Investment Management. Kingsbury previously served as CEO of the UK Green Investment Bank, the world's first government-backed green infrastructure bank (per public record).

Just Climate invests in operating companies, not directly in physical infrastructure assets. Its portfolio companies, however, are themselves large-scale industrial developers or technology providers building physical plants and capital-intensive production facilities. H2 Green Steel, for example, is constructing a multi-billion-dollar green steel mill in Sweden.

The Climate Assets Fund I closed at $1.5 billion in November 2023, surpassing its initial $1 billion target (per the firm, 2023). The firm has not publicly announced subsequent fundraises, but the structural capital requirements of its target sectors suggest future vehicles will likely match or exceed this scale.