Just Climate’s Natural Climate Solutions strategy also makes its first investment
London, 18 March 2025
Just Climate, a specialist investment business focused on scaling solutions for the highest-emitting, most off-track sectors of the economy, today announced partnerships to accelerate investment in natural climate solutions. Just Climate has secured $175 million, including through the backing of two anchors: California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) as its institutional anchor, and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund as its corporate anchor. In January 2025, Just Climate’s Natural Climate Solutions strategy announced its first investment, leading the Series B funding round for NatureMetrics, a pioneering company in environmental DNA-based biodiversity monitoring.
Through its investments, the strategy aims to deliver attractive returns and help transform land use to achieve global net-zero and nature positive goals. Currently, the way land is managed accounts for roughly one third of global greenhouse gas emissions and is the primary driver of biodiversity loss. Transforming the way agricultural commodities are produced and restoring degraded landscapes creates a unique set of scalable investment opportunities, like biological fertilisers and pesticides to replace chemicals, development models to finance and operate restoration projects, and technologies to verify carbon and biodiversity outcomes.
Just Climate’s Natural Climate Solutions strategy is a global investment strategy designed to support entrepreneurs with growth capital and business building support to scale these technologies and services. Just Climate’s Natural Climate Solutions strategy brings together a team with growth equity investing experience alongside science, policy, impact measurement and business building skills. The strategy aims to invest in businesses with the potential to deliver attractive financial returns alongside the highest climate and nature impact.
CalSTRS’ involvement highlights the investment opportunity for institutional investors in backing the transformative scalable business models that support land-use transitions. Microsoft’s participation demonstrates the catalytic power of corporates in scaling innovative products and services that enable net-zero goals and develop greater resiliency, including high-quality carbon credits and sustainable supply chain solutions. In 2023, both organisations backed Just Climate’s Industrial Climate Solutions strategy.
Microsoft is a founding member of the Just Climate Nature Alliance, a group of corporate leaders whose influence and expertise is expected to play a vital role in expanding the natural climate solutions investment opportunity.
In January 2025, Just Climate’s Natural Climate Solutions strategy announced its first investment. The strategy led the Series B funding round for NatureMetrics, a leading UK-based biodiversity monitoring company that has helped over 600 clients in over 110 countries to monitor and manage nature impacts and risks through its environmental DNA (eDNA) technology and platform. This investment aims to scale NatureMetrics’ nature intelligence platform, and expand its AI capabilities and eDNA solutions, to provide high-quality data to underpin a new era of nature reporting.
Clara Barby CBE, Senior Partner of Just Climate, said: “The climate crisis is accelerating and forcing an energy and land transition, which will succeed if it is a just transition. Climate-led investing is the practice of scaling solutions that can best enable this transition and is fast becoming a capital allocation imperative for investors around the world — as exemplified by our anchor partners. We believe, with the right growth capital and business-building support, the picks and shovels that will enable the land transition have the potential to scale rapidly and generate attractive financial returns through highest positive climate impact.”1
Eduardo Mufarej, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Just Climate, said: “We believe a rapid land transition, with the potential to be as profound as the energy transition, is coming. Our strategy focuses on directing and scaling institutional capital to solutions that can help to transform food systems and drive the expansion of the ecosystem restoration sector. This commitment is reflected in the investments we aim to make, targeting innovative technologies in specific sectors. The importance of nature is rising up the global agenda, and businesses are at commercial tipping points, creating investment opportunities in the coming years. Nature and the land transition are critical and will be a central focus at COP30 in Brazil later this year.”
Kirsty Jenkinson, Investment Director at CalSTRS, said: “This investment with Just Climate is aligned with our long-term outlook and mission to provide a secure retirement for California’s public educators and their beneficiaries. We believe investment opportunities related to the land transition that require specialist expertise create value. Our partnership with Just Climate aims to accelerate the land transition and contribute to a more sustainable global economy while generating attractive investment returns for our members.”
Erika Basham, Director at Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, said: “Achieving our ambition of being carbon negative by 2030 requires both reducing emissions and scaling high-quality carbon removals. Our work with Just Climate and participation in the Just Climate Nature Alliance reflect our commitment to advancing nature-based solutions that drive high-integrity carbon removals, build resilient supply chains and protect biodiversity.”
Dimple Patel, CEO of NatureMetrics, said: "Recent geopolitical events remind us just how much we rely on visionary organisations prepared to make bold investments in change for good. Just Climate not only understand the urgent need to invest now to drive systems change but also has the reach and ability to convene the diverse stakeholders required to turn ambition into action. We are honoured to have their support — a true partnership rooted in shared goals and values. The deep industry knowledge and passion for innovation they bring will be fundamental as we enter this critical growth phase for NatureMetrics. The world needs innovative solutions to help reverse the loss of biodiversity more than ever, and with their support, we can empower forward-thinking leaders in sustainability with the tools they need to drive a nature-positive future."
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Agriculture, forestry, and other land use activities are responsible for a third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and natural climate solutions have the potential to achieve roughly one third of the necessary global CO2 reduction to achieve net zero. However, the land transition is massively off track — climate finance for agrifood systems must increase at least sevenfold from current levels to reach the most conservative estimated needs for the climate transition. Just Climate’s approach has been to prioritise investments with the clearest capital need, greatest potential for attractive risk-adjusted returns,1 and scalable climate and nature-positive impact as the focus for this growth strategy.
Just Climate’s Natural Climate Solutions strategy has built a team of 12 investment professionals, based in London, San Francisco and São Paulo.
Media contacts
Richard Campbell
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About Just Climate
Established by Generation Investment Management, Just Climate is a specialist investment business focused on scaling solutions for the highest-emitting, most off-track sectors of the economy. The challenge of achieving a net-zero world and addressing climate-related risk is huge, urgent and needs tremendous mobilisation of capital. Just Climate's mission is to establish climate-led investing as a capital allocation imperative for institutional investors globally. For more information, please visit us at justclimate.com.