Key Impact Points

• Innovative fund: The Aviva Investors Carbon Removal Fund offers institutional investors, including corporates and pension funds, access to high-integrity carbon removal solutions.
• Diverse investments: The fund will invest in nature-based and engineered solutions like afforestation, peatland restoration, and alternative carbon removal technologies.
• Global commitment: Designed to meet Article 9 SFDR criteria, the fund will invest in projects across both developed and emerging markets, addressing the climate adaptation gap.

Aviva Investors Launches Carbon Removal Fund

Aviva Investors has launched an innovative Carbon Removal Fund (CRF) that offers institutional investors access to a range of high-integrity carbon removal solutions aimed at supporting their long-term net zero ambitions while delivering strong investment returns.

The fund, which has received initial seeding from Aviva’s Investment, Wealth, and Retirement business, will invest in both nature-based and engineered carbon removal solutions. This includes projects such as afforestation, peatland and mangrove restoration, commercial forestry, and private equity-backed nature tech companies.

Beyond delivering carbon removal credits, the CRF seeks projects with measurable co-benefits, including biodiversity enhancement, improved water quality, and job creation. This aligns with Aviva’s broader mission to deliver positive environmental outcomes while providing attractive investment opportunities.

“We are incredibly pleased to bring this fund to market, which serves as another example of our ability to match investment expertise with product innovation,” said Daniel McHugh, Chief Investment Officer at Aviva Investors. “Investors have been consistent in calling for investment strategies that can deliver long-term performance whilst also helping them to align with net zero ambitions. We think our Carbon Removal Fund is truly at the forefront of how asset managers can best-capture these opportunities.”

Global Investment Reach

The CRF also conforms to Article 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), enabling global investments across temperate and tropical climates. This global remit is crucial, according to Aviva Investors, to bridge the climate adaptation gap between developed and emerging markets.

“As one of the largest investors in the UK, Aviva has the opportunity and responsibility to actively create positive change, so we’re delighted to support the launch of the Carbon Removal Fund,” said Ashish Dafria, Chief Investment Officer at Aviva. “We recently funded peat restoration and woodland creation schemes, and believe this new fund can help us do even more.”

The fund builds on the success of earlier projects, such as the first phase of peatland restoration at Glen Dye Moor in Aberdeenshire, a project that aims to restore 1,800 hectares of peatland and capture over 1.4 million tonnes of carbon over its lifetime.

Greta Talbot-Jones, Director of Natural Capital at Aviva Investors and co-Portfolio Manager of the fund, emphasized the importance of direct engagement with conservation groups and development partners to maximize impact. “Through our Carbon Removal Fund, we will be able to work directly with conservation groups, NGOs, specialist land managers and development partners,” she said. “That is a vitally important element of this strategy as it should provide clearer, more direct and less diluted reporting lines from the projects we fund… and the impact it is having in terms of real-world outcomes.”

Aviva’s Carbon Removal Fund stands as a pioneering initiative, poised to deliver both financial and environmental returns for investors committed to ambitious decarbonization pathways.