https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Climate-tech-vs-clean-tech-Whats-the-difference
Many people confuse climate tech with clean tech -- but there are differences between the two.
Consumers are looking into human effects on the environment and want to do business with companies that also value the planet. And technology is developing, growing and adapting to the needs of the planet to help lessen the impact. After the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) event in Glasgow, Scotland, discussing the climate crisis, businesses and governments are looking at ways to combat climate change and other environmental issues -- all while being transparent with consumers on how they plan to address sustainability.
The Paris Agreement signed at the COP21 event in 2015 set long-term goals for national leaders to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, provide developing countries funding to combat climate change and review commitments every five years. This legally binding treaty set the framework for net-zero goals, limiting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible.
Both clean tech and climate tech address environmental impact and deal with existing and future damage to the planet.
The term clean tech -- or clean technology -- started when new technologies were offered to investors to help reduce environmental damage back in the early 2000s. Other phrases such as green tech and eco-technology are sometimes used interchangeably with clean tech.
Clean tech describes technology or businesses that offer renewable energy and environmentally friendly alternatives to existing technologies to limit environmental effects. Clean tech addresses soil, water and air pollution caused by "dirty" technologies, such as coal, gas, oil, mining, transportation and manufacturing.
Clean tech can also address energy efficiency in areas such as the following:
Climate tech deals with technology that combats climate change by mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions. This includes removing greenhouse gases in the environment and reducing future emissions.
Climate tech initiatives include the following:
Climate tech includes some similar functions to clean tech, but climate tech primarily focuses on greenhouse gas emissions. However, these emissions are only one portion of society's effects on the environment.
Clean tech covers a broader area, including clean water. Clean water is important to the environment and human health, but cleaning water does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions -- making it part of clean tech.
Agri-tech aims to reduce methane and carbon, which both affect greenhouse gas emissions. The primary goal of agri-tech is to develop agriculture methods that are less harmful to the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions -- so agri-tech is a part of climate tech.
Here are a few areas of clean tech and climate tech that overlap:
Climate change is one of the planetary boundaries that require the world to rethink systems and processes from a technological perspective, according to the Stockholm Resilience Centre. One major initiative is the burning of fossil fuels, which is the world's primary source of energy. Other planetary boundaries for technology to address include land use; freshwater use; ozone depletion; biodiversity loss; ocean acidification; waste; and emission of pollutants such as aerosol, nitrogen and phosphorus into the biosphere and oceans.
Clean technology addresses these problems. Clean tech can help reduce the costs of technology and risks to the environment.
Technology can help drive environmental sustainability and is a way to invest in the future of a company. In 2021, $755 billion was invested in clean technology -- a new record, according to BloombergNEF.
Another area of growth for clean tech is in the jobs sector. Two clean tech jobs -- wind turbine technicians and solar photovoltaic installers -- are predicted to have some of the highest job growth rates at 68% and 52%, respectively, from 2020 to 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Clean energy could bring half a million new jobs annually through 2035, according to the University of California, Berkeley's 2035 Electric Decarbonization Modeling Study. This report also said the U.S. could reach 90% clean electricity use by 2035 without raising consumer prices.
Companies have also pledged to invest in clean technology. For example, billionaires worldwide -- including Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Richard Branson, Ray Dalio, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman and Mark Zuckerberg -- founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, helping to capitalize on clean tech funding.
In 2020, Amazon created the Climate Pledge Fund -- a $2 billion investment program to reach its sustainability goals. Microsoft also announced the $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund to invest in environmental protection programs and technology, as well as its goal to be carbon negative by 2030.
Businesses such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise have adopted net-zero goals with carbon emissions management. With technology advancements in AI, machine learning (ML) and data science, agencies and companies can analyze the emerging risks in the environment along with ways to combat climate issues.
Learn how AI and ML can tackle the effects of climate change.
ESG, which stands for environmental, social and governance, is another category in which businesses can invest their money. There is no requirement for businesses to invest in ESG, but investors are using these initiatives to determine which companies they should invest in. Consumers are also choosing to do business with companies that prioritize ESG, so it's vital that companies are aware of ESG trends and work toward sustainability.
20 Sep 2022