With the world possibly witnessing its warmest year ever and NASA declaring this past summer as the hottest on record, influential leaders from across the globe poured into New York City last month for Climate Week NYC to discuss global warming.
The annual climate event coincides with the United Nations General Assembly’s session, and all eyes were on diplomats and heads of state to make major announcements on their efforts to combat climate change and facilitate environmental sustainability.
In the United States, President Joe Biden appears to have placed his bets heavily on green technology. According to his administration’s estimates, over $200 billion has been allocated toward clean manufacturing and green technology following his signing of a signature climate bill last year. With business leaders also focusing on green technology at Climate Week NYC, it’s imperative to deconstruct green tech and its future in the world economy, particularly in the U.S.
Green tech combines science and technology to formulate products and services that facilitate environmental sustainability. The technology includes varied innovative solutions designed to reduce human environmental impact and conserve resources. Recycling, renewable energy, waste management, sustainable transportation, emissions treatment, ecological treatment and other energy-efficiency solutions are some of the approaches businesses are increasingly adopting, and they are revolutionizing industries.
With governments offering huge incentives and investors expressing mounting interest in businesses supporting sustainability, green tech has become a burgeoning industry attracting massive investment capital. The global green technology and sustainability market size is projected to reach $51.09 billion in 2029, at a compound annual growth rate of 20.6 percent from 2022 to 2029, according to a Fortune Business Insights report.
However, green tech is not limited to climate engineering solutions. It also encompasses the growing space of impact data and analytics, with companies like GIST Impact offering advanced solutions to help businesses gauge their environmental impacts.
“There have been considerable advances in data science and AI which can be intelligently applied to make it easier for companies to measure and manage their on-ground environmental impacts, flag hidden risks and reveal instances of greenwashing,” Mahima Sukhdev, head of commercial development at GIST Impact, told Newsweek.
“Impact data leaves no room for hiding and paves the way for more accurate sustainability reporting,” Sukhdev continued. “And as governments tighten environmental regulations, companies that adopt a science-based and data-first approach to address sustainability concerns proactively are more likely to adapt successfully, mitigate risks and attract capital.”
An increasing number of private companies in the U.S. are stepping up to address climate change by adapting green tech. The nation’s top companies leading the green tech revolution range from industries like electric aviation to futuristic farming, according to Privco’s latest Leaders in Climate Tech report. The high-growth companies are aggregated in biological engineering for sustainable farming and animal product alternatives, micro-mobility and innovative engineering, the report’s data shows.
The top 10 companies in the country that are pioneering in green technology adaptation, based on funding, revenue and employee growth, are Bowery Farming (AI and robotics agricultural technology), Wren Climate, Aurora Solar (solar software), Arcadia Power (clean-energy tech platform), Rad Power Bikes (electric bike manufacturer), Pivot Bio (biotechnology), Solugen (carbon negative molecule factory), LA Solar Group (residential and commercial renewable-energy solutions), Aeroseal (lowering carbon emissions from residential and commercial buildings) and Farmers Business (tech platform and farmer-to-farmer network).
Basil Hamadeh, chief executive officer of Privco, a private company data-services provider, said he believes that green and climate tech are here to stay.
“Climate tech is a massive industry, projected to grow from $20.34 billion in revenue today to $100 billion in revenue by 2030,” he told Newsweek.
“Private companies are leading the charge, from creating innovative products like small modular nuclear reactors from X-energy to helping companies measure, reduce and report their carbon emissions from Watershed,” he continued. “At Privco, we are measuring this industry at regular intervals, given the incredibly fast pace of innovation and the importance of the solutions to the sustainability of the planet.
“We believe that climate tech will eventually become one of the largest industries on the planet, behind only telecommunications and energy in terms of overall size,” Hamadeh said.
The Russia-Ukraine war has made it evident that energy is imperative for a smooth-functioning economy and that we need to collectively channel our resources to push for less volatile and greener alternatives.
With governments incentivizing green technology on a massive scale, private companies implementing green innovation in their core functionalities and investors actively gauging a company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance as their key deciding factor, it is clear that green, clean and climate technology is paving the way for a more sustainable and green future.