Climate tech: 369bn reasons to invest in technological solutions

{"text":[[{"start":12.75,"text":"Climate change has increased the severity of California wildfires in recent years, turning the skies above San Francisco and Silicon Valley dark red. "},{"start":22.792,"text":"Yet the local tech sector’s contribution to addressing climate change is mixed. "},{"start":27.722,"text":"Electric vehicles are popular and companies such as Amazon and Meta have pledged to reach carbon neutrality. "},{"start":34.577,"text":"But the sector has yet to produce the technical solutions required to eliminate global emissions rapidly at scale. "},{"start":41.469,"text":"A new subsidies package for renewable energy will not change that unless investor outlooks change, too. "}],[{"start":48.78,"text":"The US climate bill adds up to $369bn. "},{"start":53.872,"text":"This includes $60bn to encourage more domestic manufacturing of things such as solar panels and $27bn in green banks to help get clean tech projects off the ground. "},{"start":65.80199999999999,"text":"The hope is that by 2030, the US — the world’s second biggest greenhouse gas emitter — will reduce emissions by 40 per cent compared with 2005 levels. "}],[{"start":77.85,"text":"There are signs the private sector is already stepping up. "},{"start":81.604,"text":"US venture capital investment in climate tech companies reached $56bn last year, up 80 per cent on the previous year, according to Silicon Valley Bank. "},{"start":92.70899999999999,"text":"Recent successful funding rounds include Afresh, a San Francisco company developing tech to prevent food waste, and Unity Global, a sustainable hydrogen start-up in Texas. "}],[{"start":104.92999999999999,"text":"But there is wariness towards the sector, too. "},{"start":108.472,"text":"A decade ago, a number of clean tech start-ups including Solyndra collapsed. "},{"start":113.827,"text":"Low prices for fossil fuels and competition from China took a toll on incentives. "},{"start":119.14399999999999,"text":"Impatient VCs pulled out capital. "},{"start":122.04899999999999,"text":"This year, there has already been a broad slowdown in tech start-up funding as rising interest rates curb demand for risky ventures. "},{"start":130.579,"text":"Data from PitchBook show the valuation of early-stage US start-ups fell between the first and second quarters. "}],[{"start":138.75,"text":"The tech sector’s contribution to addressing climate change will depend on investor appetite for both risk and long-dated projects. "},{"start":146.97899999999998,"text":"Clean energy tech start-ups tend to be expensive and R&D intensive. "},{"start":152.222,"text":"Traditional five-year investment horizons do not apply. "},{"start":156.002,"text":"But there are grants, tax exemptions and other incentives available for VCs to help start-ups negotiate. "},{"start":162.932,"text":"Climate tech success is going to require flexibility from its investors. "}],[{"start":167.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://creatives.ftacademy.cn/album/80536-1660710424.mp3"}