Climate technologies is defined as technologies that are explicitly focused on reducing GHG emissions, or addressing the impacts of global warming, including mitigation or removal emissions, impacts adaptation and support to the knowledge of the climate. Developing and transferring technologies to support national action on climate change has been an essential element from the beginning of the UNFCCC process.
Investment in climate tech is continuing to show strong growth with a total of US$87.5bn invested over the second half of 2020 and first half of 2021, with 2021 delivering record investment levels in excess of US$60bn. This represents a 210% increase from the US$28.4bn invested in the twelve months prior. Climate tech now accounts for 14 cents of every venture capital dollar (PwC: State of Climate Tech 2021).
'Technology is not the answer, it’s the amplifier of intent, and climate tech alone is not the panacea, but it's a space that is emerging rapidly as a critical mechanism to bend the emissions curve down and get us back on track towards 1.5 degrees' (PwC).
Credit: Robert Foster / Winrock International US AID
Renewables, efficiency and electrification dominate energy transition
90% of all decarbonisation in 2050 will involve renewable energy through direct supply of low-cost power, efficiency, electrification, bioenergy with CCS and green hydrogen. (IRENA 2021)
Innovative solutions are reshaping the energy system and opening new possibilities for a decarbonised future much faster than expected.
The imperatives of climate change, energy poverty and energy security to underpin development and industrial strategy have made the widespread adoption of renewables and related technologies an essential solution.
A consensus has formed that an energy transition grounded in renewable sources and technologies that increases efficiency and conservation is the only way to give us a fighting chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by 2050 (IRENA 2021).
The World Energy Transitions Outlook outlines a pathway for the world to achieve the Paris Agreement goals and halt the pace of climate change by transforming the global energy landscape.
For the past seven years, more renewable power was added to the grid annually than fossil fuels and nuclear combined. Renewable power technologies now dominate the global market for new electricity generation capacity, as they have become the cheapest sources of electricity in many markets. A record level of 260 gigawatts (GW) of renewables-based generation capacity was added globally in 2020, more than four times the capacity added from other sources . This a promising trajectory for rapid decarbonisation of the power sector.