Monaco Foundation doubles down on impact investing as others retreat: 'We need to act urgently'

The past year or two has seen a rapid retreat from sustainability goals – both in boardrooms and in the halls of politics.

It’s a shift that has been felt hard in impact investing circles. Many impact-focused VCs are struggling to raise money for their funds, and investment for climate tech startups plummeted to a five-year low in 2025.

Romain Ciarlet, vice chairman and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, says he is concerned about the shift in capital, especially towards sectors such as AI and defence.

"I feel scared that environmental challenges are gradually pushed to the margins," he says at the International Impact Forum 2026 in Monaco this month.

During the speech, Ciarlet directly addressed comments by US President Donald Trump that climate change is the "greatest con job" globally.

"When you hear world leaders saying that protecting our planet is a con job… just look at the reality and the consequences," he says. "We cannot just avoid climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution because they remain the number one challenge of our time and maybe the number one challenge for future generations."

New funds to invest this year

Despite sustainability falling out of fashion, the Foundation says it’s doubling down.

The organisation’s impact investing vehicle, ReOcean Fund, has raised €75m against a €100m target, it revealed in a separate presentation of its 2025 impact report last week. It expects to make four new investments totalling roughly €20m in 2026.

"We see a fantastic ecosystem, fantastic pipeline of companies that have impact rooted in their DNA,” says Ciarlet. “But not just impact, it's also great businesses, great economic models."

ReOcean has made two investments so far. It led a $44m funding round for Bound4Blue, a Spanish scale-up that has developed wind-propulsion for big vessels, and participated in a £20.4m investment in UK-based NatureMetrics, which monitors biodiversity risk using DNA.

ReOcean is backed by 22 LPs, including the Minderoo Foundation, the Monaco Government, and the Foundation itself.

While not solely a philanthropic vehicle, Ciarlet believes philanthropic wealth can have an important role to play in venture capital funds.

"When you reflect on what it needs to take a company from seed to IPO, you understand that you need philanthropies with the catalytic capacity, the catalytic capital at the very early stage,” he says.

“Then you need VC and private equity investors to support these companies,” he continues. “And after that you need asset owners to power this change and you need corporations to adopt the solutions."