The climate window is narrowing: there's now a greater than 50% chance we'll hit 1.5°C warming before 2040. But climate tech has flipped in five years, from investor skepticism to massive capital inflows and corporate demand for decarbonization solutions. Engineers and builders are needed to scale faster.
Chapters
Just about a year ago, you said that we have less than 100 months to reduce planet emissions by 40% in order to stave off the worst of what will happen if our planet's temperature continues to rise. And that was about a year ago that we have 100 months left. So where are we now? Fewer than 100 months. Yeah. So now where are we and what do you think about the urgency of this problem?
Yeah. I mean, you know, the urgency grows and, and it, I'll talk to you about the urgency, but I'll also talk to you about why I remain optimistic. 'Cause I think it's always important to present both sides of that framework, right? I made that statement in May of 2022, and I think many of you who are following the space around climate change saw the most recent updates to the IPCC, which say that there's greater than a 50% chance that we will sail right by the 1.5-degree temperature rise that we're all predicting sometime before 2040, right? So we are well on our way there. And so the situation has gotten worse and not better. But at the same time, I sense and also experience a much higher level of interest in decarbonization than I did when I was starting this business 5 years ago. When I launched this idea, very few people were interested, frankly. Investors hadn't really built their thesis around what climate tech was. They were sort of, feeling burned from the first wave of green tech where a lot of people lost a lot of money. And, you know, large global organizations were sort of trying to offset their way out of the climate crisis, essentially purchasing carbon removal credits or carbon offsets to get to zero. Whereas now, you know, 5 years later, we have, you know, large customers that are working with us. We've had, you know, a huge interest from investors. And there are trillions of dollars that are going into the space of climate tech and of other decarbonization strategies. So I am seeing a massive acceleration, which makes me optimistic. But at the same time, we really do have to go faster. And so if there's like one reason why I'm here, you know, one wish that I would have from being in this audience is that somehow my story might motivate more of you to go into the space of climate tech. I think it's a really exciting field to build within, and there's so many opportunities available, particularly for people who have that engineering background and mindset.
