Testimonial from Assia Gaouar, Partner at Demeter

Demeter, a pioneering asset management firm in financing the ecological transition, chose to integrate the CIARA methodology developed by Carbone 4 from the outset of structuring its “Climate Infrastructure Fund,” dedicated to the ecological transition in France and Europe. Classified as an Article 9 fund under the SFDR regulation, the fund also pursues a sustainable investment objective and relies on Carbone 4’s expertise to assess the alignment of its investments with its climate strategy.

Climate: an investment pillar and contractual commitment

With a fund size of €215 million and an investment target of about a dozen projects in the ecological transition sector, the Climate Infrastructure Fund primarily invests in energy efficiency, industrial decarbonization, and emerging renewable energies. In addition to expected financial performance, the fund follows a precise climate strategy:

• Reducing CO₂ emissions, with a trajectory aligned to limiting global warming to 2°C (in line with the Paris Agreement).
• Building a portfolio aligned with the EU taxonomy by at least 70%.
   

For Assia Gaouar, “Our ambition is to provide investors with a dual return: financial and environmental, based on quantifiable KPIs. In a context where investors demand transparency and solid evidence, our partnership with Carbone 4 demonstrates Demeter’s commitment to relying on robust, recognized, independent, and objective methodologies to measure the achievement of our non-financial commitments. Additionally, to guarantee our investors that our climate strategy is central to our investment decisions, we have integrated a carried interest mechanism linked to the fund’s non-financial performance. This is also why we preferred independent audits rather than conducting climate due diligence internally, as some peers do.”

CIARA: a strategic tool to select, audit, and demonstrate impact

The CIARA methodology from Carbone 4 is integrated into every stage of the investment process:

• Fund structuring: defining sub-sectors compatible with the climate strategy, setting measurable indicators, and creating a sectoral framework to identify projects aligned with 2°C objectives and the EU taxonomy.
• Project-level analysis: each asset is evaluated for its carbon footprint, avoided emissions, projected temperature, and actual contribution to decarbonization.
• Annual portfolio consolidation: assessing the overall carbon footprint and ensuring consistency with stated commitments.

CIARA delivers tangible measurements

For example, in its investment in the low-carbon hydrogen steel production asset (STEGRA project in Sweden), Demeter used CIARA to conduct in-depth climate due diligence. This analysis assessed the investment’s alignment with a Paris Agreement–compatible trajectory, estimating the project’s “temperature” well below 2°C (avoided emissions of approximately 21,700 tCO₂e/year), signaling strong climate ambition. CIARA also quantified the project’s substantial contribution to climate mitigation relative to the EU taxonomy, highlighting STEGRA’s robustness in emissions reduction, with a decarbonization potential of 95% compared to conventional steel production. This analysis enabled Demeter to document its decision-making and strengthen the climate credibility of its investment process—an example of strategic climate integration in infrastructure finance.

At the fund level, Assia Gaouar notes that “at mid-investment period, eight projects had been assessed using CIARA, with the fund’s carbon footprint at the end of 2024 totaling 28,900 tCO₂e—lower than the avoided emissions of around 30,300 tCO₂e/year calculated by Carbone 4 for the full investment period. This footprint will continue to decrease as our projects under construction, generating Scope 3 emissions, become fully operational. Thanks to CIARA, we consolidate and track the fund’s temperature annually. To date, we can conclude that the funded projects will avoid more emissions over their lifecycle than they emit.”

Conclusion: an ambitious climate strategy aligned with financial objectives

CIARA is now fully integrated into Demeter’s investment process. It guides allocation decisions, secures commitments to investors, and strengthens reporting robustness. Demeter demonstrates that combining a rigorous methodological framework, a trusted partner, and a commitment to measurable impact provides a solid path for financial actors aiming for long-term climate-aligned investments.

“CIARA allows us to demonstrate, with concrete data, the contribution of our investments to the energy transition. We want to show that financial performance and climate performance can go hand in hand,” concludes Assia Gaouar.