Net Zero-X, a Singapore-based blockchain exchange for impact investors, has launched with the aim of tackling the significant financing gap impeding the global transition to a net-zero future.

Open to institutional and accredited investors, the exchange enables sustainability-minded investors to identify and support vetted green, clean and climate tech projects. 

To minimize the worst impact of climate change, world leaders signed the 2015 UN’s binding Paris agreement to reduce emissions significantly in the decades to come, reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. However, the decarbonization of the world economy requires tremendous financial investments.

An Allen & Overy and Climate Policy Initiative study estimates that US$6.2 trillion in climate finance is needed annually from now until 2030, after which the amount increases to US$7.3 trillion, totalling nearly US$200 trillion to reach the net-zero target.

The cost is beyond what the public sector can finance, Net Zero-X argues; and there remains a staggering US$4 trillion annual global financing gap, which the exchange aims to help fill.

By providing a platform where institutional and accredited investors can readily invest in vetted green climate tech projects, the exchange shares, it can enable swift capital deployment globally and brings valuable visibility and process transparency to the sustainable finance market, supported by Chintai, a licensed and regulated digital assets company in Singapore.

Net Zero-X’s platform is built off of technology by Singaporean blockchain company Chintai, which holds two licences from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Chintai’s platform can offer full transparency and secure the exchange’s investments, elevating investor confidence.

By collaborating with Chintai, Net Zero-X points out, it is able to save valuable development time and start facilitating the deployment of critical capital to projects earlier. 

The exchange has identified 60 immediate sustainability projects seeking investment, with plans to onboard many more in the future to drive capital mobilization for a sustainable future. It aims to onboard 500 projects within the next five years, facilitating the deployment of over US$10 billion in impact capital over the next decade.

“The sustainable investment space has a matchmaking problem, undermining efforts to combat climate change globally,” says Glenn Davies, the exchange’s co-founder. “There are trillions of dollars in the private space looking to invest in profitable, exciting sustainability projects, while many cleantech initiatives are unable to identify and connect with relevant investors to bring their solution to life.

“With this exchange, we bridge this gap by enabling project owners and sustainably focused start-ups to present their solutions on a regulated, readily accessible platform, and by investors having a single-place of outreach to finding valuable, verified sustainable projects across the globe.”