Deadline: March 2, 2025
Applications are open for the Climate Investment Challenge 2025. The Climate Investment Challenge calls on students to develop and describe creative financial solutions and innovations addressing the defining challenge of our time – climate change. This could include identifying untapped climate finance opportunities or developing innovative financial structures or instruments that improve the bankability of climate investments.
There is no single right answer. In the battle against climate change and its impacts, ideas across all sectors, topics, and regions are important!
Background
Recent studies led by Imperial College researchers estimate that less than 250 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide are left in the global carbon budget – this is the amount of carbon emissions we can emit while having a chance to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C. Unfortunately, with the current rate of carbon emissions, we will exhaust our carbon budget in the next 6 years. Mitigating climate change involves rapidly scaling up investment in climate mitigating and adaption projects. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) estimates average investment requirements to be between $3.1 trillion and $5.8 trillion per year until 2050.
That’s why they are calling for ideas to scale climate finance and fight against climate change!
Prizes
- The Main Competition Prize challenges students to create innovative financial structures or instruments that enhance the bankability of climate investments or utilize existing tools (e.g., loans, derivatives, REITs, bonds) to explore untapped climate finance opportunities. All applicants enter this prize.
In addition to applying for the main competition, applicants can also choose to be considered for one of our runners up prizes:
- The Emerging and Developing Markets Prize calls on students to use innovative financial instruments or existing financial tools to address an underserved climate change issue within a specific emerging and developing market. The proposed submission can be applicable to wider geographies and sectors too.
- The Data Analytics Prize is looking for students to develop creative ways to combine existing climate and environmental datasets with financial information to improve the adoption of climate finance or address climate risk. Such ideas may help to integrate transition or physical climate risk into financial decision-making or develop novel green financial instruments. This can include the use of weather data, climate models, geospatial and satellite data, asset-level information or socio-economic and financial data.
Eligibility
- The challenge is open globally to students from all academic backgrounds. Undergraduate students may participate, but each group MUST include a postgraduate student.
- Students will have to form teams of 2 to 6 members.
- Students must apply with their student emails.
Application
The Climate Investment Challenge goes through three stages:
- In Stage 1, your team will submit a Concept Note of your idea. If your team’s submission is selected, you’ll move on to the next stage.
- In Stage 2 (the Semi-Finals), your team will be invited to develop a detailed slide-pack of your idea. If your team’s presentation is selected, you’ll be moved on to the final stage.
- In Stage 3 (the Finals), your team will pitch your idea in front of a top-tier panel of judges from investment banking, private equity, and impact investing.
For more information, visit Climate Investment Challenge.
