Laura Timberlake
The Sustainable Melbourne Fund has been renamed the Sustainable Australia Fund and is now working with businesses across the country to achieve their environmental upgrades.
The Sustainable Melbourne Fund was originally established by the City of Melbourne in 2002 to progress sustainable development in greater Melbourne.
The City of Melbourne agreed to divest from the Sustainable Melbourne Fund to allow it to significantly scale up and expand its finance model nationally through a partnership with Bank Australia.
The recapitalisation with Bank Australia provides the fund with access to a loan facility of up to $200 million and will enable the fund to continue its mission at a national scale. As a consequence, the business has been renamed the Sustainable Australia Fund.
City of Melbourne Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood says the Council established the fund to drive innovation and investment to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change impacts by the private sector.
“It’s truly a testament to the success of the original goals of Sustainable Melbourne Fund that it can now expand its reach beyond the borders of Victoria,” he says.
“This City of Melbourne market intervention has been hugely successful in transforming the built environment and incentivising building upgrades and renewable energy. It’s now time for the fund to move forward with its own growth strategy and the recapitalisation by Bank Australia will position the fund strongly for future success.”
The fund aims to help businesses across Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales achieve building upgrades, ensuring savings through energy efficiencies and improve sustainability.
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