Subsectors
ClimateTech

Excessive anthropogenic CO2 (greenhouse gas) emissions are putting the world (and mankind) on a potentially irreversible path towards climatic disaster

ClimateTech” covers a broad range of approaches that:

  • directly mitigate or remove emissions
  • assist adaptation to the impacts of climate change
  • enable the transition to ‘net-zero’‘

Negative emissions technologies (which capture emissions at source or remove existing CO2) are emerging as vital tools in the pursuit of ‘net zero’

Renewed impetus since the 2015 Paris Agreement & COP26 (2021) have put tackling carbon emissions front-and-centre of society, policy and industry

According to the IEA, reaching net zero will be virtually impossible without ‘carbon dioxide removal’ (CDR) approaches:

  • Carbon capture & storage (CCS): CO2 is captured and permanently stored (“sequestrated”)
  • Carbon capture & utilisation (CCU) or ‘CO2 use’: e.g. CO2 serves in the production of fuels, chemicals, construction materials

According to the IEA, upwards of $160 billion will need to be spent on CCUS projects over the 2020-2030 timeframe, a ten-fold increase over the previous decade.

A host of promising “eliminating” approaches (to complement nature-based sinks) are emerging: DAC, BECCS, soil carbon sequestration, mineralisation, biochar ….

There is a growing number of carbon-focused (“ClimateTech”) investment funds, though investing interest is also coming from generalist cleantech / sustainability / impact funds

“Carbon” alone isn’t yet a theme to drive M&A (exits) and few meaningful pure-play companies exist; however, as the subsector grows corporate activity will increase