Our Commitment to the Environment | Proactive engagement in resolving environmental challenges
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Climate change represents one of the major challenges of the twenty-first century. We are clearly entering an age without precedent. Global temperatures have risen by 0.2°C, and CO2 concentrations have also risen significantly since the early 1990s. The impact on the environment and on economies, particularly those of developing countries, could be profound.
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Clean technology or cleantech involves developing technologies, products, and services that can recycle resources wherever possible to preserve precious natural resources, and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and other waste into the atmosphere. The problems of global warming, the continued rise in the price of oil and uncertainty over future supplies has made this field a focus of attention for institutional investors and venture capitalists in the US and Europe. Investment in this field is known as clean technology venture funding. In fiscal 2007, Nomura International plc's New Energy & Clean Technology Ventures completed investments of US$32.3 million (approx. ¥3 billion) in four companies. All four companies were based in the US, and had strengths in either pipeline-related or power grid-related technologies.
Russell Pullan, the director heading the New Energy & Clean Technology Ventures, says energy efficient innovative technologies are on the rise in the cleantech sector, and these investments are manifestations of the growing momentum.
"In addition to new clean energies, our team is witnessing the appearance of innovative pipeline-related technologies. Such technologies can be used in industry worldwide to reduce energy consumption, the amount of waste produced and costs. The common factor among these four companies is that they all have technologies with the potential to overturn conventional wisdom. We have begun to provide support aimed at promoting the growth of companies with such outstanding technologies, particularly in Asia."
I want Nomura's cleantech venture fund to be the best in the world
Whitney Rockley
New Energy & Clean Technology Ventures
European Merchant Banking, Nomura International plc
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In October 2007, we spoke to Whitney Rockley of European Merchant Banking at Nomura International plc, who was voted one of the top 10 women working in the clean technology field by the trade journal Earth2Tech.
The Merchant Banking Division in Europe started its venture investment focusing on new energy and clean technology (cleantech) in the latter half of 2006. At the beginning of 2007, soon after the business line was set up, Whitney used her illustrious career to join Nomura International plc in London. In October 2007, Earth2Tech, a trade newspaper for clean technology, selected Whitney, who remains passionate about clean technology, as one of the Top 10 Women active in the field.
In March 2008, Whitney was invited to be a panelist at GLOBE 2008, an international forum on business and the environment held in Vancouver, Canada, where she gave a presentation on the status of clean technology venture investments worldwide and prospects therein.
"My dream is to nurture Nomura New Energy & Clean Technology Ventures to be the best cleantech fund in the world; a fund that contributes to a healthy world environment." As concern about global warming and the environment escalates, Whitney is doing everything she can to realize this dream.
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 Logo mark of the NOMURA ECOLOGY FOCUS Project |
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The NOMURA ECOLOGY FOCUS Project was launched in August 2007 to lend greater strength to our environmental conservation efforts by providing potential investors investment opportunities; fruits of industrial and technical research that will contribute to the preservation of the global environment.
Corporations are increasingly assessed for their commitment to environmental and social responsibilities in addition to their financial conditions. That is because investment decisions are increasingly made by taking into account the level of corporate social responsibility. We have designed a NOMURA ECOLOGY FOCUS logo to be used on reports and seminars to capture the imagination of our prospective investors.
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 Global Environment Technology Conference 2007 |
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Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. and Nomura Research and Advisory Co., Ltd. co-hosted Global Environment Technology Conference 2007 at our Nihonbashi head office on June 22, 2007.
This conference has been held annually since 2004 when it focused on new energies. Comprising a keynote speech by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and presentations on topics such as biofuels and venture businesses, the 2007 conference attracted the highest level of attendance to date with some 180 participants including representatives of corporations, corporate investors and venture capitalists.
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Expectations of Japanese environmental technologies are growing as we endeavor to resolve global warming, an issue of paramount importance worldwide.
Nomura Research and Advisory (NRA) provides support for unlisted companies' initial public offerings, with an emphasis on environmental and new energy fields as growth areas. It proactively invests in cutting-edge environment-related companies engaged in development of biofuels, biomass power generation, wind power generation, energy service companies (ESCO) and recycling services.
NRA currently has investments in a large number of university hospital ventures and life science-related companies. Targets of this investment are diverse, ranging from companies developing therapeutic drugs for cancer and vaccines for new strains of influenza to cutting-edge companies engaged in the development of preventative and therapeutic drugs for metabolic syndrome, medical equipment and databases, and regenerative medical treatments.
Capitalizing on our extensive capabilities, we will create new industries that look ahead by investing in, and providing business advice to, cutting-edge companies.
