Beat the heat – combat climate change with these eco-friendly P2P loans

The UK is set to experience the hottest day on record next week, with temperatures expected to rise as high as 41C in London.

A few peer-to-peer lending platforms and Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA)-eligible crowd bonds are doing their best to keep the heat at bay by raising money for companies which are dedicated to combatting climate change.

From energy-efficient new-builds to solar powered schools, here are some of the P2P loans for climate-conscious investors…

• Abundance Investment

Run by Zopa co-founder Bruce Davis, Abundance allows investors to “tackle the climate emergency and help build more resilient communities by backing the innovative companies and councils who are trying to make a real difference”.

It does this by investing in sustainable food production, clean energy, electric vehicles, carbon offsetting ventures, and by partnering with councils to fund green projects.

Returns vary from loan to loan, with current projects targeting fixed returns of eight and nine per cent per annum.

• Assetz Capital

The UK’s largest P2P lending platform has committed to ensuring that 95 per cent of the new homes it funds will have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of B or higher by the end of 2022.

This is significant as Assetz is believed to fund the house building of around one in every 100 new build homes in the UK, so the lender is in a great position to push for widespread change.

Interest rates range from 3.75 per cent to 4.10 per cent, depending on the type of account chosen.

• Energise Africa

Energise Africa is an ethical crowdfunding platform owned by European impact investing platforms Ethex and Lendahand.

It offers investors annual returns of up to six per cent for funding clean energy projects in Africa, which can be held in an IFISA wrapper.

• Ethex

As well as partnering on the Energise Africa platform, Ethex offers its own range of environmentally friendly loans. It has invested more than £100m into over 200 projects, including Solar for Schools, which installs solar panels in schools across the UK.

Returns range from two to six per cent, depending on the option chosen.

• Triodos Crowdfunding

Triodos Crowdfunding, part of Triodos Bank, lets investors back social impact-focused enterprises. In the past, it has funded wind farms and solar panel installations, with returns of up to eight per cent per year.

Read more: Triodos Bank’s Whitni Thomas: Creating positive change