#19) Climate finance + startups (3-min. roundup)
25 badass women in climate. 80+ female founders in foodtech. 6 biggest banks commit to climate. Volvo goes all electric by 2030. 100+ players in agtech (market map). Free energy storage conference.
25 badass women shaping climate action.
Check out Greenbiz.com profiles on these 25 influential women leaders in sustainability and let’s remember..
“To change everything, we need everyone…We need feminine and feminist climate leadership…and an appreciation for heart-centered, not just head-centered, leadership…which is wide open to people of any gender."
You can also nominate your favorite colleagues and mentors in the upcoming “Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards” by March 24 at this link.
Volvo to go 100% EVs by 2030.
GM made waves in late January when it announced it’ll only produce electric vehicles starting in 2035.
But China just had to go and outdo us. #HealthyCompetition
Recently, Volvo made even more aggressive plans, getting there by 2030. Their CTO put it this way: “There’s no long-term future for cars with an internal combustion engine.”
Who else is jumping on this electric bandwagon?
Jaguar — All EV by 2025
Volkswagen — Investing $42B with 70 EV models by 2030
Ford — All EV for the EU market by 2030
And here are some even more electrifying stats (oh yeah, I did it again):
500 EV models by 2022 (“But, honey, I just can’t find one that I like.”)
26 million EVs sold in 2030, 54 million in 2040
28% of all cars sales to be EV in 2030, 58% in 2040
116 million EVs on the road by 2030
Biggest US banks commit to climate goals.
The first ones to aim for net zero emissions or Paris-aligned ambitions were:
Bank of America
Morgan Stanley
JPMorgan Chase
And in the 10 days or so, we got three new ones:
Goldman Sachs
Citigroup
Wells Fargo (they were the straggler)
But the headlines lack details.
Are “financed emissions” included?
To what degree will carbon offsets be used to get there?
How about the $980B in coal, oil and gas financing from these six banks since 2016?
What do interim targets look like? (Or is it the next CEO’s problem?)
Who is managing this goal — a sustainability team or the Board of Directors?
Why did it take actual or threatened shareholder resolutions from investor advocacy groups including As You Sow to get you off the bench?
This is not going to be easy, but it’s the future.
Learn more via Scientific American.
Regenerative agriculture as the next Tesla.
Do I exaggerate? Maybe.
But here’s the connection.
While the world is showering electric vehicles with roses and champagne, it’s easy to forget other sectors with big potential for reducing GHG emissions and handsome profit opportunities.
Enter Nancy Pfund, cofounder of DBL Partners, an impact-focused, market-return VC firm.
In Techcrunch last week, she wrote a piece called, “Regenerative agriculture is the next great ally in fight against climate change.”
And her fund was one of the earliest to invest in Tesla. So maybe she sees things before others do.
And why does regenerative agriculture matter?
Soil sequestration, as facilitated by regenerative agriculture, has the potential to suck up 5% of the U.S.’s annual CO2 emissions, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
And The Nature Conservancy has estimated that it could absorb 10% emissions globally.
How can you learn more?
Check out this market map of 100+ startups and investors in regenerative agriculture from Ethan Roland Soloviev, the Chief Innovation Officer at HowGood
80+ female foodtech founders, leaders, and investors
OMG. What a Smörgåsbord of curated research in this climate sector!
(Yep, I had to look up the spelling for that word.)
Shout out to Nicola Spalding and FoodHack.
I’m posting two images as a tease to lure you in to the full article here. Consider it your eco-appetizer.
And in case you’re wondering why foodtech shows up in a climate finance and startup newsletter, consider this:
“Plant-based diets” rank #4 on the top 100 solutions to climate change via the Project Drawdown list here
Remember, this is just a tiny snapshot of the full list of 80+ companies, so check out all these foodtech innovators here.
Free attendance at the biggest energy storage conference.
If you’ve ever wanted to learn more opportunities in batteries, now is your chance to do so for free.
You can register at no cost here to attend the virtual U.S. Energy Storage Association Annual Conference & Expo (#ESACon21) from 12:30-5:00 ET on April 21-22.
If you need a teaser, consider this:
UBS estimates that the energy storage market in the U.S. could grow to as much as $426B by 2030.
Oh yeah, and all the cool kids into batteries. So there’s that motivation, too.
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Make it a great week,
Chris
P.S. If you’re looking for a good laugh in about 10 seconds, and a challenge to wow your customers in the same way, check out this short video.
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Dr. Chris Wedding
Founder and Chief Catalyst, Entrepreneurs for Impact
Private Roundtables, Investor Intelligence, and Executive Coaching for Climate CEOs
