Climate Table Stakes
A salon dinner on planet, policy, and private sector momentum
By Revolution Growth Partners, Kristin Gunther and Todd Klein
Over the past decade, Revolution has backed a number of sustainability-focused companies, including those working to enable the circular economy, support the adoption of electric vehicles, create planet-friendly culinary experiences, and facilitate the adoption of clean energy.
With D.C. as the firm’s home base, we’ve also paid close attention to regulatory changes and their impact, positive or negative, on entrepreneurs and startups. Today, legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) stands to mobilize a new generation of innovation within this space.
The buzz generated by the IRA’s groundbreaking funding inspired us to gather a group of entrepreneurs, investors, and policy change makers — including Carol Browner, the former EPA Administrator and former Director of Climate Policy at the White House, and Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, the former Head of Science at NASA — for a dinner and discussion on the evolving climate innovation landscape. Below are a few highlights from the conversation.
This wave of ClimateTech is different from the last. During the CleanTech movement of the 2000s, significant capital flowed into the sector. But once investors fully realized the capital intensity and long time horizons of these technologies, they began to pull back — particularly at the later stage. In addition, the politics of risky government-funded bets weren’t good because, by and large, the public sector isn’t judged on a portfolio basis but rather on individual projects (some of which failed notably, e.g., Solyndra). In contrast, today the scope of the government’s funding commitment is broader and there are a wider array of climate-focused business models. Major corporate players like Ford, GM, Unilever, and others have also made investing in climate technologies a core aspect of their business.
The impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will be transformative and reveal whether meaningful government investment can really move the needle when it comes to emissions. But the IRA also poses potential conflicts with existing land and ecosystem protections, labor practices, etc. But reconciling that push and pull comes with the territory of making such a bold commitment. The legislation reflects the belief that we have to start making choices based on the urgency around climate change, which is actively impacting communities across the country and the globe. Right now, spending, learning, and seeing what’s possible at pace is critical.
Equitability and accountability are paramount. Twenty years from now, we will be judged on whether we created a just and equitable transition to clean energy. This needs to be a moral and ethical journey, not just across the U.S., but globally. In the not-so-distant future, we’ll have publicly available data and transparency around emissions on a country, city, and company-level. It remains to be seen how that amount of accountability will impact sustainable strategies on a micro and macro scale, but, as they say, sunlight is often the best disinfectant.
