Vauban Infrastructure Partners and Carbone 4 announce their common initiative to develop a pioneering methodology for analysing physical risks of infrastructure assets in North America

Vauban Infrastructure Partners (“Vauban”), long term investor in essential infrastructures and Carbone 4, a leading consulting firm specialized in low-carbon strategy and climate resilience, are delighted to announce a new partnership.

In a world transitioning to a business resilient and low-carbon economy, it is crucial that the actors of infrastructure financing are equipped with operational and shared tools to contribute to carbon neutrality and controlled climate risks. Following this observation, Vauban and Carbone 4 decided to create a partnership dedicated to developing a methodology for analysing the climate physical risks in North America.

This common initiative is based on the existing CIARA methodology (Carbon Impact Analytics for Real Assets), aimed at developing innovative key performance indicators regarding two climate preoccupations:

1. Climate impact: the alignment of infrastructure portfolios to the Paris Agreement.
2. Business resilience: the climate risks linked to the assets subject to climate change.

Laurent Morel, Associate at Carbone 4 explains: "This methodology benefits from Carbone 4' fifteen years of experience in the field of climate change physical risks. It allows investors to identify potential risks for their portfolios. Infrastructures are particularly exposed to climate change effects due to their long lifetime. Performing a CIARA analysis is the crucial first step for investors wishing to implement a climate change adaptation strategy."

Gwenola Chambon, CEO of Vauban Infrastructure Partners added: “Vauban is already committed to being at the forefront of ESG implementation in the European infrastructure sector, through our annual open research with our stakeholders, industrial and academic experts1, and initiatives such as the Infrastructure committee of UN PRI or the initiative for Climate International (iCI). The new development of our partnership with Carbone 4 will allow us to align the calculation methodology of our portfolios’ climate impact globally, a further significant step in advancing our strategic climate plans across our portfolio. This historic partnership will allow Carbone 4 to expand its scope of analysis to all of North America. This represents a significant milestone in the ongoing battle to fight climate change, not just for us; but the whole community.”

(1) The Infrastructure impact on climate change in 2021 and The importance the Social License to Operate for the infrastructure sector in 2022

About Carbone 4

Led by Alain Grandjean, Laurent Morel and Jean-Marc Jancovici, Carbone 4 is an independent consulting firm specializing in the energy transition, which offers its expertise to public and private sector economic players. Convinced that anticipating the climate change constraint is the best possible option, Carbone 4 assists its clients in transforming this constraint into a formidable gas pedal of innovation, a factor of commercial differentiation and an element of motivation for their teams. For the financial sector, Carbone 4 develops methodologies and tools adapted to each business line to enable them to measure and highlight the carbon impact of financing and their contribution to the energy transition. 

www.carbone4.com

https://ciara.carbone4.com/

About Vauban Infrastructure Partners

Vauban Infrastructure Partners is a leading Infrastructure Asset Manager focused on core infrastructure investments. Headquartered in Paris, the Company employs over 65 professionals, the majority of whom have been working together for over a decade.

Vauban targets predominantly European brownfield mid-market assets, and pursues a long-term, yield- driven strategy that matches the underlying nature of the assets & the long-term commitment to all stakeholders’ interests through a strong focus on creating sustainable value. Vauban has raised c.€7.2 billion across 6 funds in core infrastructure from over c.100 investors from 17 different countries and has invested in over 70 assets in the mobility, energy transition, social infrastructure, and digital infrastructure sectors across 13 different geographies.

https://vauban-ip.com/en/