Pollination and ANZ announce strategic partnership to support net zero transition in Asia Pacific

ANZ and Pollination today announced a new strategic partnership to deliver innovative solutions and opportunities for their customers, helping drive the transition to net zero and support biodiversity.

The partnership brings together ANZ’s market-leading Institutional Bank and strength across Asia Pacific with Pollination’s expertise in climate finance, asset management, carbon projects, and environmental sustainability-focused corporate advisory.

The partnership will focus on the transition needs of ANZ’s customers globally in the areas of Sustainable Finance, Project & Export Finance, Carbon Markets and Corporate Advisory, including mergers and acquisitions.

ANZ’s investment will significantly accelerate Pollination’s growth ambitions and extend the firm’s reach and impact. It follows Pollination’s recent SAFE round and is part of its Series B fundraise.

As part of the transaction, ANZ will gain a seat on Pollination’s Board. ANZ was advised by Ashurst and Pollination by Hamilton Locke and BDA Partners.

ANZ Group Executive Institutional Mark Whelan said: “We’re pleased to be partnering with a team that has strong climate finance and investment expertise, deep relationships and commercial momentum. These credentials, combined with ANZ’s long-standing leadership position in sustainable finance and debt capital markets, will bring significant opportunities for our customers.

“This partnership also underpins ANZ’s strategy to support customers in the transition to net zero, while helping cement our position as a leading Environmental Sustainability bank in the region.”

Co-founding Partner Pollination Martijn Wilder AM said: “Strategic partnerships are core to Pollination’s impact model – they extend our reach and scale far beyond what we could achieve alone. ANZ has a strong track record of delivering innovative sustainable finance products. With a presence in 14 markets across Asia, it has exceptional reach where investment in decarbonisation and nature is both critically important and a huge opportunity.

“ANZ’s investment unlocks capital to accelerate Pollination’s own investment strategies, and the strategic partnership will deliver the next generation of sustainable finance products, at significant scale throughout Asia Pacific.”

About Pollination

Pollination is a global climate change investment and advisory firm. Pollination works with corporate, government and financial institution clients to design, implement and finance their transitions to net zero and nature positive business models. Since launching in 2019, Pollination has brought together an outstanding concentration of climate finance and investment expertise, accompanied by deep relationships across governments, the corporate sector and financial markets.

Co-founded by Tony O’Sullivan and Martijn Wilder AM, the firm now comprises more than 120 experts operating across 13 countries. Team members have played leading roles in decarbonisation and nature solutions, including in development of the Paris Agreement and key negotiating coalitions to the UNFCCC, and on the leadership teams of Australia’s national green finance and climate innovation institutions like ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

Snapshot of global team:

• Martijn Wilder AM - Ranked world’s No.1 climate lawyer, Chair WWF Australia
• Patrick Suckling - Former Australian Ambassador for the Environment and High Commissioner to India
• Sam Mostyn - Ranked Australia’s most influential board director
• Rick Saines ONM - Former Chair of International Emissions Trading Association, ranked US No.1 climate lawyer
• Melanie Brock - Japan’s most respected APAC bilateral relationship specialist
• Nick Hurd - Former UK Minister for Climate Change & Industry, Chair G7 Impact Taskforce
• Elizabeth Littlefield - Former head of US International Development Corporation
• Gavin Templeton - Founding member of UK Green Investment Bank’s leadership
• Geoff Summerhayes - Former APRA Director, former CEO of SunCorp Life 

About ANZ

ANZ’s Sustainable Finance business is recognised as a market leader across Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific, and is estimated to have participated in approximately 5% of global sustainable finance deal volume in 2021, according to Bloomberg and ANZ data. During the 2021 financial year, this business participated in 81 transactions, with total deal size of AUD$119 billion.

ANZ is the largest bank servicing institutional and large corporate customers in its home markets of Australia and New Zealand, where it ranks #1 for relationship strength and overall market-and lead-bank penetration (according to Peter Lee Associates). In Asia, ANZ Institutional ranks in the top five corporate banks, and has ranked #1 for relationship quality for the past 4 years, according to Greenwich Associates.

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