Global investment in climate technology has skyrocketed by 210% in the past year.
According to research from PwC, a “Big Four” accounting firm, investors have poured $87.5 billion into solutions meant to battle the climate crisis in the year leading up to June 30 — a significant increase over the $24.8 billion invested in the same period one year beforehand.
CNBC summarizes:
The firm focuses on what it says are the five leading technology solutions: solar power, wind power, food waste technology, green hydrogen production, and alternative foods/low greenhouse gas proteins. It says these five received just 25% of the climate tech investment between 2013 and Jun. 2021, despite technologies in these areas representing over 80% of the emissions reduction potential by 2050.
The lion’s share of climate tech funding, some $58 billion, went to mobility and transportation companies, PwC said. That includes companies focused on e-scooters, electric vehicles and flying taxis.
The average size of a climate tech deal almost quadrupled to $96 million in the first half of 2021, up from $27 million one year prior, PwC said, adding that the number of active climate tech investors rose from less than 900 in the first half of 2020 to over 1,600 in the first half of 2021.
“Innovation is critical to meeting the challenge and the good news is that climate tech investment is up significantly across the board,” PwC UK global climate leader Emma Cox explained in a statement. “However, our research has found there is potential to better channel and incentivize investment in technology areas that have the greatest future emissions reduction potential. This raises the question of why these sectors are missing out — are investors missing a value opportunity or is there an incentive problem that needs the attention of policy makers?”
In the United States — where $56.5 billion of the $87.5 billion has been channeled — policymakers are emphasizing climate policy as a top legislative priority. The pending Build Back Better Act, for instance, contains a provision that would expand the federal electric vehicle tax credit from $7,500 to $12,500.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg argued that the legislation would guarantee that Americans “never have to worry about gas prices again.”
“The people who stand to benefit most from owning an EV,” Buttigieg commented, “are often rural residents who have the longest distances to drive, they burn the most gas, and underserved urban residents in areas where there are higher gas prices and lower-income. They would gain the most by having that vehicle. These are the very residents who have not always been connected to electric vehicles that are viewed as kind of a luxury item.”
In a recent interview with The Daily Wire, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) — the Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee — blasted the electric vehicle credit as a boon for the wealthy.
“Under this bill, a family making $800,000 per year is eligible for a $12,500 check to buy a luxury electric vehicle with up to a $74,000 price tag,” noted Brady. “That check they’re getting will be paid for by the maid who comes to clean their house. It’s a stunning giveaway to the wealthy.”
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Source: Dailywire
