​Staying Ahead is a series on the latest market trends, focusing on Energy Transition, Climate-tech, and ESG/Sustainability. It is our mission to work with people and organisations to drive the transition towards a sustainable and innovative future.

USD $60 billion in 2021 was invested in climate-tech alone. Climate-tech is one of the fastest growing industries in the world as we become more aware of the consequences of Greenhouse gasses on our environment. One of the most exciting parts of this industry is how it is constantly evolving with new innovations and technologies being brought into the field. As a result, it can be quite difficult to keep track of the work being done by our key stakeholders to mitigate disastrous environmental changes.

This article touches on what is captured within the climate-tech industry, along with the various initiatives that our world has started to have development in. 

What is Climate-tech?

Climate-tech has been an important focus for global stakeholders, governments, and corporations, looking at special technology and strategies to combat climate change and GHG. Technology battling climate change and GHG can be categorized in three different groups: 

1. Carbon Mitigation: technology that directly mitigates or removes emissions 
2. Adaption: technology that helps us adapt to the impacts of climate change
3. Sequestration: technology that actively removes carbon from the atmosphere

In order to keep track, monitor, and build a strategy to battle climate change, the climate-tech sector can be categorized into 7 verticals (which continues to evolve).​

Climate-Tech Verticals

• Mobility and Transport
  Transportation is one of the fastest-growing sources of global emissions, accounting for 16.2% of emissions. One of the key transitions is the investment and development of electric vehicles. Additionally, research and development of green hydrogen to create synthetic fuels for transport is another solution to reduce GHG of transportation. 

• Energy
  13.6% of total global emissions are through the production, transport and use of energy. Solutions we are making to produce low-carbon energy include: wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen, nuclear and other low-carbon fuels, enabling renewables.

• Food, Agriculture and Land Use
  Food systems are responsible for 20.1% of global emissions, with the largest contribution coming from agriculture and land use activities. As a solution, experts and investors are looking towards developing and transitioning into alternative proteins, regenerative farming, and autonomous farming equipment, water tech, and food waste reduction.

• Industry, manufacturing and resource management
  Global industry and manufacturing are responsible for 29.4% of global emissions, which are produced when creating materials, manufacturing and industrial processes. This vertical is one the most difficult to mitigate. Solutions would be looking at more efficient use of resources, more efficient processes and improved energy efficiency. 

• Built Environment
  The construction of buildings is responsible for 20.7% of global emissions. Two thirds of the global emissions come from the operations, which includes the use, management, and maintenance of a product or structure.The construction process will need to be more efficient, smarter and cheaper.

• Climate Change Management
  Governments, investors, and businesses look to software solutions to manage and track data, intelligence, and risks associated with climate change to meet emission reduction goals. This includes management of emissions and sustainability reporting, ESG investing and fintech, climate risk and intelligence platforms.

• Carbon 
  While finding alternative solutions to reduce emissions, it is clear that removing fossil fuels as an energy source completely is not likely. As a result, experts are looking for methods to capture, store, and reuse the GHG emissions. This method is also known as carbon sequestration, which is a key technology in early stages of development. 

NextWave Partners Work in Climate-Tech
NextWave Partners is proud to proactively partner with clients who share the same vision of creating positive impact on our world through sustainable tech, impact tech, and climate-tech. 

Please reach out to our specialists to understand more about the work we do:
NextWave Managing Director/Climate-tech Specialist: Adam Wade
NextWave Associate Director/Climate-tech Specialist: Vinny Chan
NextWave Team Lead/Climate-tech Specialist: Silas Mähner
NextWave Climate-tech Specialist: Rekha Ramaswamy

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