The Climate 100 List: Jonathan Maxwell, the banker who wants nothing to go to waste

Ahead of The Independent’s Climate 100 List launch in September, we are celebrating some of the leading lights being honored for their work tackling the climate crisis and protecting nature. David Callaway reports on a banking entrepreneur who saw the opportunity in waste

Jonathan Maxwell, the investment banker behind Sustainable Development Capital (Courtesy of Jonathan Maxwell/David Callaway)

If it’s not commercial, it’s not sustainable, Jonathan Maxwell likes to say.

The British investment banking entrepreneur, who created Sustainable Development Capital LLP almost 17 years ago in London to seek opportunities in the booming market for energy efficiency, has been at the forefront of the climate movement to create value from wasted heat and gas.

From headquarters just a block from Piccadilly Circus, Maxwell and SDCL have built an investment business with more than $2 billion in assets.

From steel mills in Indiana and olive presses in Spain, to the lighting for Banco Santander in 800 buildings across the UK, the company works with large commercial buildings to find ways for them to save energy by reducing the amount they waste.

Maxwell said up to a third of the greenhouse gas emissions currently polluting the world and hastening global warming come from the construction and building sector, from cement and steel to inefficient lighting and air conditioning systems.

An energetic dealmaker who frequently travels between the U.S., Europe and Asia, Maxwell is one of the UK’s business leaders when it comes to fighting climate change and transitioning to an economic era of clean energy.

Last year, he published a book, “The Edge: How competition for resources is pushing the world, and its climate, to the brink – and what we can do about it.”

It is geared toward readers who want to understand how events of the last decade, including more frequent extreme weather events, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China’s economic evolution, have contributed to a massive battle for resources, which in part has led to political fighting over whether to use more or less oil and gas. Maxwell also frequently blogs about energy issues.

Before launching SDCL, Maxwell worked in business development for HSBC Plc for five years. As he did more and more energy deals, he said that he figured he could do better by himself, and so launched his business in October 2007.

The Independent will be revealing its Climate100 List in September and hosting an event in New York, which can be attended online, to reserve your place click here.