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Carrying on a theme from last week’s Venture Building reflection, building trust was the focal point of the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos. While global security and AI were the prominent themes, climate was on the agenda too, a month after (some) progress was made at COP28. The focus: A Long-Term Strategy for Climate, Nature and Energy.
Here are some of what matters for the climate venture space.
- Trust in the economy: The wrap-up panel of finance ministers, central bankers and investors provided a (mostly) positive outlook for 2024. Wide agreement that inflation is under control and interest rates will come down. Risks around US debt or other shocks were also noted, summarized well by European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde’s quote: “prepare for a normalization towards non-normality.”
- Trust in businesses: Sustainable business models was on the agenda too. The CEO of Ika noting “I start with the rationale, 'How could it be possible to build a future business model on depletion of [natural] resources?' It's simply the absolute worst idea.” Going beyond sustainability to regeneterative models was also a top disucissoon point. Exploring opportunities for big business and investors to support early stage eco-innovators was also discussed.
- Trust in renewables:The world agreed at COP28 to 3x renewables by 2030. Davos started to tackle the execution challenges with a focus on reducing NIMBYism (the US has seen a 6x increase in complaints and court cases against renewables). They developed a ten point plan including policy certainty, blended finance and spurring demand. Other highlights included:
- Using AI models to improve project site mapping
- Going “beyond ground” renewables (e.g., rooftops) - helping to ensure projects don’t diminish forests and fields
- skills training for project builders and operators
- Trust in carbon markets: ZERO13, the COP28 award-winning digital climate fintech platform, and XTCC, the world’s first exchange-traded investment products for trusted, high-integrity carbon credits, announced a Statement of Accord aiming to attract $100bn capital market investment.
