COP28 — Acceleration Week or Groundhog Day?
Remember February 2nd 1993? Fast rewind to weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) who is tragically trapped in a time loop while experiencing a frustrating repeat of the same day routine. Waking up to “I Got You Babe” again and again in his room at the Cherry Street Inn. He unsuccessfully attempts to leave the town and retires to bed. When he awakes, it is February 2nd again. Fast forward to today, 30 years ahead. Will COP28 be another Groundhog Day as many of the previous conferences or will this be the week of acceleration?
This year, COP28 is all about “overcoming inertia in climate tech investing” as last year November’s PwC report stated.
The numbers for climate tech are promising. The third quarter of 2023 disrupted the trend of slowing investment in the climate tech sector. A total of USD 16.6 billion was invested in Q3, according to a recently released Bloomberg NEF analysis. This was due largely to interest in decarbonization and low-carbon startups. According to the report, this is the highest quarterly funding in climate tech since Q4 of 2021.
What does it take to scale critical technologies? According to McKinsey, many of the climate technologies needed to achieve deep decarbonization already exist. The challenge now is accelerating innovation and scale-up to achieve technical and commercial breakthroughs.
Enter investors and climate tech funds.
Some new climate tech funds have popped up in recent months and the Inflation Reduction Act is also providing a boost due to incentives for industries ranging from green hydrogen to home electrification.
The field of climate investing has now built a more solid foundation. Yet more capital deployment will be required in the next chapter to meet the commitments of private- and public-sector leaders across the globe. Much more remains to be done to scale up climate investing.
Expectations are high. And so are the stakes.
Tackling the escalating climate crisis will be near-impossible without advances in climate tech. Not only will the adoption of climate tech be necessary to overcome and adapt to a changing climate; the scaling of climate technologies also has the potential to create new jobs, support economic growth and accelerate broader technological advancement, as stated in the “Climate Tech: Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Impact”, published by Improved Corporate Finance.
What do investors say about the urgency for climate tech investing? In the new Deal Talk podcast episode, Frank Verbeek talks with Cassie Bowe, Partner at Energy Impact Partners, and Brett Hauser, Chairman of the Board at Voltera, on the actions required. Both guests and hosts share their expectations of COP28 and their personal “call to action”. “Jump in, get informed, get inspired!”
No more Groundhog Day. It’s time to accelerate. Listen to the Deal Talk podcast on Spotify.
Deal Talk is powered by IMPROVED Corporate Finance and produced by Cognito Amsterdam.
🌐 Key Discussions:
1. COP28 Insights: A sneak peek into the major topics shaping COP28.
2. Why COP28 Matters: Exploring the critical need to ramp up investment in Renewable Energy and Climate Tech.
3. Urgency in Investment: Uncover the sectors and technology areas where we experience decent progress and those that demand a significant push.
4. Funding Challenges: Despite accelerating funding, what’s still missing to achieve net-zero goals?
5. Role of Finance Professionals: How can Corporate Finance experts, investors, and board members support in realizing the COP28 goals?
6. M&A and Growth Financing: A deep dive into the current status of investment and M&A in Climate Tech.
7. Call to Action: A clear call to action for the Climate Tech community to accelerate global collaboration, investment, and innovation.
Sources:
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/how-we-help-clients/cop/insights
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/climate-tech-investing-surges-third-quarter
