Climate Tech Investments Can Add Up to Net Zero
Reaching the world’s climate targets will mean expanding the use of cutting-edge technologies that already exist. Making them more accessible requires cash — and generous government support
The Orca direct air capture facility in Iceland.
Photographer: Arnaldur Halldorsson/BloombergVast sums are now pointed in the direction of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. That’s good news: We require somewhere between $100 to $150 trillion in climate investment over the next three decades, and ignoring global warming would prove a costly and potentially irreversible cataclysm. In fact, the crucial coming years need to see sums going into the energy system to more than double from the current $1.7 trillion a year. But does the promised cash add up to what the planet needs? Not quite.
There’s the inconvenient fact that the cash isn’t reaching every corner of the globe in sufficient quantities. Too much stays in the developed world: That’s a problem, given developing economies will account for nearly 70% of global power demand by 2050. In 2020, 90% of energy transition funding went to high- and upper-middle income economies, according to BloombergNEF.