Hilshaw Group smart city project approved by Pan European Carbon Fund

The Pan European Carbon Fund on Monday announced that 380 million euros fund allocation towards the third, in the series of seven Smart City Projects being managed by Hilshaw Group, has been approved for its smart city project in Albania.

The decision came following a successful due diligence process for the Smart City in Tirana. The fund had announced allocations similar projects for the Group in Kazakhstan as well.

The initial tranche from PECF to Hilshaw is through forward - commitments of Carbon Offsets to the Carbon Fund, predominantly from the aviation and hospitality sectors and is allocated to the over 300 hectare project in the Albanian capital.

Domiciled in St Petersburg, The Pan European Carbon Fund (PECF) is a Carbon Credit issuance fund directed towards the development of Smart Green Cities, Carbon Neutral Environments, and Earth Friendly Technologies.

In line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, PECF has Carbon Offset commitments approximating between $500 billion and $1 trillion of finance and investments by 2050 to help transition to a net-zero carbon economy and help build a thriving, resilient future for society and businesses.

PECF aims to accelerate decarbonisation through the use of new technologies. PECF also funds the development of green technologies in Series 1 and 2 stages.

Carbon Credits are a concept of any tradable certificate that gives the bearer the right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide or equivalent greenhouse gas. Carbon credits and carbon markets are a part of national and international attempts to mitigate the growth in concentrations of greenhouse gases. One carbon credit is generally equal to one ton of carbon dioxide. Carbon trading is a process of emissions trading with the goal is to encourage low emissions or less carbon-intensive approaches than those used when there is no cost to emitting carbon dioxide.

Hilshaw Group is a multi-family office and change management investment advisory. The company primarily invests in low supply and finite assets and opportunities. It has allocated $175 million towards UAE real estate, specifically towards the facilitation of the remote work visa programme to help mitigate the global post-pandemic work culture.

The group has also been appointed as the exclusive advisor and financial consultant for the $7 billion 'Green Smart City' in Nairobi, Kenya. The project has been marked as 'An Initiative of National Importance' by the Country's Ministry of Lands & Physical Planning.

"It is imperative to laud Hilshaw Group’s commitment to the sector. It is only with the help of such private sector partners that we can achieve a Carbon Neutral tomorrow for the generations to come," said Artem Rogalev, executive director, Pan European Carbon Fund LLC.

"Organisations like PECF are the reason why a sustainable tomorrow still seems achievable. We that PECF for aligning us with their ambition. It is with their support that our vision is surely becoming a reality," said Lal Bhatia, chairman, Hilshaw Group.

In 2015 191 countries became signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels through regulated emissions cut targets by each country. However, as of July 30, 2021, as many as 81 of the 191 signatories failed to submit their CO2 reduction targets suggesting non-compliance to the agreement. Amongst the several causes of the 81 signatories falling back on their mandate are the lack of Public Buy-in, limited accessibility to funding, and unavailability of sustainable initiatives and concepts. PECF operates with a clear mandate to remedy such future defaults.

— business@khaleejtimes.com