The Future of Climate Tech 5
Notes: 1) 2045: Germany. 2050: EU (27 countries), UK, Chile, Costa Rica, South Korea, Canada, US, Japan, New Zealand, Austral ia, Turkey (2053), South Africa, Argentina, UAE, Brazil, Columbia. 2060: China,
Ukraine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, 2070: India, 2) All forms of private equity including venture capital. 3) The Oil and Gas Clim ate Initiative includes BP, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental,
Petrobras, Repsol, Saudi Aramco, Shell and Total. 4) Equity funding from public/government sources distinct form capital mark ets. 5) Gigatons (billions of ton) of CO
2
(GtCO
2
).
Source: United Nations Environment Programme, Climate Action Tracker, Fortune, IRENA, S&P Global, IPCC and SVB Analysis.
Negative consequences from climate change are
inevitable. The question is to what extent will the general
populace be adversely impacted. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that half the
global population lives in areas highly vulnerable to
climate change and the climate warming above 1.5°C
will create irreversible damages that are a threat to
human wellbeing.
In light of this, 49 countries made commitments to reach
net-zero emissions, the top three of which account for
over 50% of all global emissions. These commitments
benefit climate technology development as they incent
governments to create policies to reduce greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions. For instance, the state
Washington’s emissions trading system will encourage
innovation in carbon-reducing technology.
Twelve of the world’s major oil companies,
3
including
Shell and ExxonMobil, have set net-zero targets and
agreed to fund emission-reducing technologies. Large
corporations are key early adopters and channel
partners for climate tech startups. Airlines, for example,
committed to buy sustainable aviation fuels from
startups and in some cases also became investors –
such as Honeywell and United Airlines’ investment in
Alder Fuels.
Despite countries and companies setting ambitious
goals, our current policies put us on pace to hit 2.9°C of
warming, which puts humans at risk of experiencing the
severe events, such as marine ecosystem collapse and
over 23 feet of sea level rise by 2100. Technology is no
silver bullet but is a key tool in reducing GHG emissions.
GtCO
2
2100
