Private Equity
Private Markets Decarbonization Roadmap
Private Markets Decarbonization Roadmap
Providing Private Equity firms with a common language to communicate where their assets are on their decarbonization journey.
The Private Markets Decarbonization Roadmap (PMDR) provides a common language that enables Private Equity firms to disclose their assets’ decarbonization evolution. It recognizes firms’ early-stage progress and builds on existing frameworks, giving firms the flexibility they need to decide what and how to disclose.
Developed by Bain on behalf of the Initiative Climat International (iCI) and the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Private Equity Task Force, the PMDR will help Private Equity firms accelerate progress on disclosing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Although such actions can improve operations, increase valuations, and mitigate risks, efforts to decarbonize pose challenges to Private Equity, given its fiduciary commitments, dynamic fund cycles, and other unique aspects of the industry.
The PMDR was developed with input from more than 250 GPs, LPs and ecosystem players. Whether a company has yet to start, is in the data-capture phase, or is currently delivering against a decarbonization plan, the Roadmap can provide essential insights and guidance on how to:
- Balance emissions-reduction priorities and fiduciary duties
- Define a clear plan to achieve your ambition
- Provide practical how-to guidance relevant to a fund’s operational characteristics
- Address a multi-strategy approach that incorporates advice on the levers available to stakeholders in different asset classes.
Launching PMDR 2.0
Launching PMDR 2.0
A year after initial publication, PMDR has gained significant momentum and engagement across the industry, including ~15,000 unique visitors to this Microsite, >2,000 Roadmap downloads, and numerous industry leaders leveraging PMDR internally and externally. In 2024, in a collaborative consultation process, an updated version of the PMDR has been released. PMDR 2.0 addresses key insights and feedback from +40 adopters, all while safeguarding the core framework.
-
Detailed information on PMDR 2.0 update
Key updates encompass:
-
Asset-class specific considerations: Additional guidance for Growth, Venture Capital (VC), and Real Estate assets establishes asset-class specific ambition levels, decarbonization levers, and related modifications to the Roadmap. This is complementary to existing asset-class specific guidance for Infrastructure, Private Credit and Secondaries
-
Decarbonization Enabler classification: Clearer process on how to manually assess assets with economic activities enabling the net zero transition when no sustainability taxonomy is applicable
-
Avoided Emissions: Conceptual commentary on the topic of Avoided Emissions in the Appendix
-
PMDR Support Tool & visualizations: A new Excel-based Support Tool enables portfolio classification and disclosure of key insights internally and/ or externally through automated visualizations directly in Excel or through PowerPoint templates. The tool also provides flexibility on Scope 3 data, allowing GPs the option to communicate initial progress based on Scope 1 & 2 emissions only
The above themes are accompanied by smaller updates across the Roadmap, supporting ease-of-use and further clarity.
-
Get Started
Get Started
Testimonials
Testimonials
"We are seeing activity from GPs around this issue, but they lacked a cohesive way of communicating to investors. This guidance will allow managers to share their progress with stakeholders in a meaningful and transparent way."
-Peter Wilson, Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners
"The roadmap provides a practical means by which GPs can tangibly demonstrate their efforts on emissions reduction using a method that is tailored to Private Equity. We have already seen strong support from leading firms within the GP community, LPs, and industry groups."
-James Brocklebank, Managing Partner at Advent International
"We want to see GPs make clear and credible plans for their assets, but we have been missing the guidance to support them – particularly those supporting portfolio companies in the early stages of their decarbonization journey. We think the roadmap will really provide that guidance."
-Matt Schey, Managing Director of External Affairs and Sustainable Investing at ILPA
"For Investindustrial, the sustainability of a business is fundamental to its future success and performance. Given this, we are pleased to have joined forces with like-minded investors via the iCI, to develop a decarbonization methodology for the PE industry. This framework is simple to use and will allow all GPs to better assess how their portfolio is performing on decarbonizing their operations and report the outcomes to their stakeholders."
-Andrea C. Bonomi, Founder and Chairman of Investindustrial Industrial Advisory Board
"We are proud to support the iCI’s foundational work to bring together influential bodies and firms across Private Markets. This comprehensive guidance will help asset owners better understand their private markets portfolios, prioritise decarbonization efforts and set objectives across asset classes, funds and portfolio companies."
-David Atkin, Chief Executive Officer at PRI
“For us, mapping our portfolio along the Alignment Scale was an eye-opening exercise that showed us in a clear and transparent way how far we have come. The PMDR has been a helpful tool for allowing us to see the progress in our portfolio in a structured and consistent way. The exercise of mapping our portfolio also highlighted which companies were truly at the forefront and where there are best practices that can be shared across the portfolio.”
-Sanaz Raczynski, Head of Sustainability at Kohlberg & Company
