(Axios) Actor and climate tech investor Robert Downey Jr. stirred controversy last week when he tweeted that “the technologies that suck carbon out of the air and capture it” are as equally important in global efforts to halt global warming, as “building new renewable energy.” Why it matters: To climate tech investors (and scientists), the…
(Fortune) All eyes are on the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is expected to vote on a new set of climate disclosure rules for public companies in its meeting today that began at 11 a.m. The guidance would make it easier for investors to make an apples-to-apples comparison of companies’ carbon footprint. It will also…
(Protocol) Breakthrough Energy has emerged as one of the most prominent climate venture capital and policy shops in the U.S. That’s perhaps unsurprising given it’s the brainchild of Bill Gates, a guy you’ve probably heard of. Gates himself put a lot of the thinking behind Breakthrough Energy in his 2021 book “How to Avoid a…
(Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance) Throughout the last few years, investors, proxy advisors, governance professionals and a number of stakeholders have expressed a keen interest in how companies are managing their environmental, social and governance (ESG) associated risks and opportunities. Given the broad nature of ESG and the general dearth of reporting mandates,…
(Time) In a few minutes, electronic music will start pulsing, stuffed animals will be flung through the air, women will emerge spinning Technicolor hula hoops, and a mechanical bull will rev into action, bucking off one delighted rider after another. It’s the closing party of ETHDenver, a weeklong cryptocurrency conference dedicated to the blockchain Ethereum.…
(Protocol) Tech companies are bending a major business trade group toward backing President Joe Biden’s climate agenda. The Business Roundtable — a lobbying group representing the most powerful CEOs in the U.S. — has voiced support for some of the climate policies in the Build Back Better agenda, even as it worked to undermine the…
(The Wall Street Journal) A company that can measure the carbon footprint of Parmesan shavings for a salad maker was valued at $1 billion by its investors last month. Watershed Technology Inc. sells software that allows companies to quickly work out their environmental impact. That information is in high demand for investors and increasingly by…
(Climate Tech VC) Emily Kirsch and her team have shaped Powerhouse Ventures to sit at the intersection of big clients, big energy, and the software they’ll need to bend the cost curve for climate. With a new $70m fund that’s 10x the size of Fund I, Powerhouse has tracked the trendlines from early cleantech investing…
(Bloomberg Green) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed Europe’s landscape when it comes to energy security, trade, and deep decarbonization. When I first wrote about this two weeks ago, I called it “The shock of the old, and the promise of the new.” Another way to consider the change is as an open window — specifically…
(The Wall Street Journal) Companies are increasingly using their venture-capital arms to pour money into startups that could help them profit from the energy transition. Last year, corporate venture funds invested $23.2 billion in businesses in the climate-technology sector—a broad category spanning renewable energy, energy storage, electric vehicles and more—according to PitchBook Data Inc. The…