The UN climate conference begins in Glasgow on Sunday.

Then there will be negotiations again for a week about climate protection and the financing of corresponding measures.

In order to keep the 1.5-degree target within reach and protect ecosystems, industrialized countries must meet their pledges to mobilize at least $ 100 billion in climate finance per year from 2020 onwards.

“The international financial institutions must do their part, too, and we must work to unleash the trillions in private and public sector finance required to secure net global zero,” says the COP26 website.

Madeleine Brühl

Editor in business.

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A current report by the data provider Dealroom and the advertising agency London & Partners shows that the financial industry is also interested in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and coping with the consequences of climate change. In the first three quarters of 2021 alone, climate technology start-ups raised $ 32 billion in venture capital worldwide, more than in the whole of last year. This means that investments by venture capital funds in climate technology have increased fivefold since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement from $ 6.6 billion in 2016 to the present day. "The technology industry plays an essential role in driving innovation in the fight against climate change," said London & Partners CEO Laura Citron in a statement. "I think,that the next 1000 unicorns will be companies that develop green hydrogen, green agriculture, green steel and green cement, ”said BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at the Middle East Green Initiative Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday.

5100 climate tech startups around the world

Climate technology start-ups are companies that use technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or address the effects of climate change.

Climate tech is defined as part of Impact and therefore also belongs to the ESG area (environment, social affairs and corporate governance).

Using this definition, the authors identified and analyzed 5100 climate tech start-ups worldwide.

According to the report, Europe is the fastest growing region in the world for climate technology startups. Compared to the global average, investments here have increased sevenfold in the past five years - from 1.1 billion dollars in 2016 to currently 8 billion dollars since the beginning of the year. At the country level, most of the venture capital since 2016 has flowed to the United States ($ 48 billion), followed by China with $ 18.6 billion and Sweden with $ 5.8 billion. Germany ranks sixth with venture capital investments of $ 2.7 billion in climate technology.

London is the growth driver of European development and the largest center for air-conditioning technology start-ups in Europe. With $ 4.3 billion in venture capital investments since 2016, the UK ranks fourth in the world. The 416 London air-conditioning technology start-ups have raised $ 3.3 billion since 2016. There are now three Klima-Tech unicorns with Octopus Energy, Arrival and Depop. Six more could be added in the near future.

Berlin, on the other hand, as the largest German start-up center for climate technology, has not even half as many start-ups in this area as London. Although German politicians want to focus heavily on innovation, German start-ups often complain about risk-averse investors and lengthy approval procedures. The German Energy Agency (dena) has calculated that by 2030 more than 200 billion euros in risk capital for climate technologies will be necessary in order to achieve climate neutrality in Germany. “In order to combat climate change, we have to focus more specifically and more specifically on innovations and their scaling. The potentials are there. The determination grows. But when it comes to the actual implementation, the courage to take the decisive steps is often lacking, "says Andreas Kuhlmann, chairman of the management board of dena.in a statement. How serious it really is for everyone involved will be shown at the climate conference next week.