The fight against climate change has vastly changed over the years. What was once considered a niche cause to "save the planet" has evolved in different ways as public attitudes shift about the growing need to curb carbon emissions.

Among the major weapons to combat climate change has been the convergence of environmentalists with financial sectors, as sustainable investing has grown more mainstream.

One firm that has recently emerged is Pollination, a climate change advisory and investment firm that addresses the funding problem of climate change. Pollination works with banking, venture capitalists, non-profits and infrastructure investors.

Pollination recently introduced John E. Morton, a former Energy and Climate Change Senior Director, to their growing firm. Morton has a strong resume, boasting over 25 years of experience in emerging markets, investment finance, and economic and environmental policy.

Morton explained to International Business Times how he will advance the mission of Pollination.

IBT: What exactly will you be doing with Pollination?

MORTON: I will be leading the Washington, D.C., office, building the broader U.S. Pollination team with my colleagues in Chicago, and leading Pollination’s global work on blended finance.

IBT: What are some of Pollination's major achievements?

MORTON: In our first six months of existence we have built a world-class client base of major corporates, nonprofit organizations, multilateral development banks, and governments around the globe.

We have recruited top global talent to join a fast-growing set of experts spanning the legal, policy and financial sectors.

And we have taken major steps toward standing up the investment side of the Pollination platform.

IBT: According to its website, Pollination is "designing and structuring blended finance partnerships and innovative investment vehicles, helping to mobilize institutional capital flows into climate and natural capital sectors.” How is it doing that?

MORTON: In order to tackle climate change, we need to combine different risk profiles of capital into investment structures, with high-risk capital helping to lower the risk for more conservatively oriented capital. Climate change will not be solved with public funds alone, nor is commercial capital yet prepared to lead on its own. We must look for ways of combining capital into blended structures.

The Climate Finance Partnership, which I helped design, has brought together the Governments of France and Germany, four leading global foundations, and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. The CFP is a great example of the power of blended finance, where a relatively small amount of catalytic capital will mobilize many times more institutional capital toward climate investments in emerging markets.

Pollination is looking to apply a similar approach to investment opportunities in the fast-growing natural capital space.

IBT: How does Pollination differ in its mission from other similar climate change groups?

MORTON: Our mission is to leverage our insights and experience across finance, law and policy to identify climate solutions that will have a transformative impact and be attractive to institutional investors at significant scale. By combining these backgrounds and capabilities under one firm, we are able to “see around corners” and help our clients identify investment opportunities where others see only challenges.

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