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NatWest, supported by climate activist groups, is happy with 100% of facilitated emissions being attributed to the banks behind capital markets deals. Tonia Plakhotniuk, NatWest Markets' Vice President, Climate & ESG Capital Markets, said that 17% risked "a mismatch" because investors would not account for the remainder themselves. This includes Barclays, which apportions 33% of the capital markets financing to the bank and the rest to investors. Reuters GraphicsUntil banks agree on a compromise, experts say lenders could look to book more business as capital markets rather than loans. The Basel Committee's methodology for assessing Global Systemically Important Banks considers direct lending to be six times more important in its impact on the financial system than capital markets underwriting.

☆ Corporations desperate to avoid poor quality carbon credits and are starting up their own climate funds to offset emissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The voluntary carbon market has a problem with bad quality carbon credits. "Headline after headline is published exposing these offsets for poor quality," Michelle You, CEO and cofounder of carbon removal platform Supercritical told Insider. The London Stock Exchange has also done this for investors - instead of getting dividends, they get carbon credits. He expects bespoke funds will phase out when the quality of carbon credits is better assured. Frontier Fund has brought widespread attention to the carbon removal space and sends critical demand signals to early carbon removal companies, Supercritical's You said.

☆ Carbon-related tech raised a record-breaking $4.2 billion in 2022 as VCs poured into direct air capture and carbon accounting startups despite wider slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Emissions removal and management startups raised $4.2 billion last year, up from $3.6 billion in 2021. Carbon-related startups raked in $4.2 billion from venture capitalists globally last year across 204 deals, according to a new report from PitchBook. PitchBook's carbon tech categorization also includes fintech and analytics companies such as Coatue-backed carbon accounting firm Sweep. "We can't contain the climate crisis to an acceptable degree of global heating without actively addressing carbon capture and sequestration." While carbon tech is defying the wider venture-capital slowdown, which has seen valuations and deal counts plummet in the face of the war in Ukraine and fears of recession, the wider carbon and emissions tech category has remained flat.

[1/4] LNG Canada site construction activities are held, in Kitimat, Canada, September 2022. LNG Canada, in which Japan's Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T) owns a 15% stake, is set to be Canada's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal. LNG Canada has previously described this approach as only one of the options it was considering. LNG Canada has full environmental permits from both governments to use natural gas turbines for Phase 2, making it unclear what leverage governments have to force electrification. But buyers may pay more for LNG produced with lower emissions, Klein said, noting that some buyers already purchase carbon offsets for LNG cargoes.

☆ Inside climate tech's record-breaking year where the energy crisis, new regulation, and a maturing debt market helped European startups raise $17.5 billion
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Climate tech was a clear green shoot in a tumultuous 2022 but there will be a delayed correction. But there has been one green shoot: Climate tech. "We've just gotten started when it comes to climate tech," Emitwise's Cozzi said. Many climate tech companies have raised at high valuations, said Magda Lukaszewicz, principal at Balderton Capital. Energy and infrastructure companies are tipped as winners, while pure software plays may see some consolidation, climate tech investors and founders said.

☆ Airlines can price climate change into your plane ticket. There are reasons to not buy it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Trevor Laurence Jockims | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

United Airlines , for example, has committed to net zero carbon by 2050 without any contribution from traditional carbon offsets. Southwest Airlines ' "Wanna offset carbon?" Consumer psychology and the environmentIt's not just about the dollar amount of the carbon offset purchase in the consumer psychology. If airline travelers want to stay environmentally conscious without paying carbon offset fees, Keyes recommends choosing cheaper airlines when traveling. "It's true that we all have a part to play in reducing carbon emissions.

☆ This startup wants to show the impact Fortune 500 companies have on the environment and society. Check out the 18-slide pitch deck Upright used to raise $5.2 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Finnish startup Upright just landed a 5 million euros seed round (around $5.2 million). The platform reveals the impact the world's largest companies have on the environment and society. Check out the 18-slide pitch deck Upright used to raise its first round from VC Planet A.Annu Nieminen has always found solace in math. She couldn't find anyone working on a tool to show the overall negative or positive impact of businesses so decided to do it herself – "as the cliche goes," she told Insider. The Helsinki-based startup has been bootstrapped until now, as it announces a 5 million euros seed round (around $5.2 million).

☆ Here's why a former Meta, Slack, and Google sales director swapped Big Tech for climate tech by joining SoftBank-backed startup Plan A
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former Meta, Slack, and Google sales director is joining SoftBank-backed carbon accounting startup Plan A.Neil Delaney, who is joining the startup as chief revenue officer, left Meta in pursuit of "ikigai." Former Google director Neil Delaney describes himself as personable; he enjoys learning and has a natural interest in people. He was working as the interim global sales director at Meta when something else caught his eye: climate tech. With 15 years in Big Tech under his belt, Delaney has now joined Berlin-based carbon accounting company Plan A as its chief revenue officer. The next wave of tech unicorns is expected to be in climate tech, and Delaney sees Plan A as one of them as long as it "executes well."

☆ A tense all-hands meeting at Google leaves employees worried about layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Oh, and Insider released its inaugural Cloudverse list of the 100 top leaders building the next generation of the Internet. Insider's Hugh Langley reports on a tense all-hands inside Google, where employees once again pushed CEO Sundar Pichai to comment on the possibility of layoffs. Google employees have been worried about layoffs for a while, especially while pretty much all of the search giant's peers in Big Tech have cut jobs in recent weeks and months. Notably, employees used the all-hands to raise concerns over a new performance tool named GRAD. Swapping Big Tech for climate tech.

☆ A Microsoft Leader’s COP27 Takeaway: It’s Time for Companies to Get Things Done
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith says there are plenty of emerging opportunities for business leaders to take climate action. The executive who has helped spearhead the tech giant’s sustainability efforts says companies need to step up and do their part. I thought some of the European companies were present but not with senior leadership, not with as many senior leaders as a year ago. But I think if you look over the next 30 years, companies are going to locate manufacturing where there is green energy. It really does serve the world well and our individual companies well if we can standardize some aspects of this.

☆ Carbon-accounting startup Planetly was shut down and all 200 staff laid off just a year after acquisition. Insiders say it's a bad omen for 2023.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

European carbon accounting companies lured $670 million in venture capital last year, as investors banked on growing appetite from corporates to bolster their ESG credentials. The slowdown means 2023 will be the toughest year since the Lehman Brothers collapse for potential closures of acquired companies, the source said. Still, carbon accounting companies are struggling with commercial traction due to market saturation and little differentiation, he said. "But if you acquire a carbon accounting software solution, you are probably a large organisation that has established customer relationships and had conversations about this before. European industry sources added that they expect further consolidation in the carbon accounting space.

☆ Microsoft's president warns of talent shortage for tackling climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Thousands of businesses will fail to meet pledges to combat climate change unless they start training employees on sustainability, Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) President Brad Smith told Reuters. Microsoft sells software for organizations to track their environmental impact. Still, companies need more than technology to address global warming, said Smith, announcing plans to develop green education materials including on LinkedIn, which Microsoft owns. The findings primarily stemmed from interviews and surveys with Microsoft and eight other large companies in sectors such as finance and consumer goods. "Employers really need to step back and take a broader look at their investment in employee learning and training."

☆ Companies are making climate pledges they don't have the capacity to keep, Microsoft President Brad Smith says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Brad Smith, president of Microsoft Corp., speaks during a climate initiative event at the Microsoft Corp. campus in Redmond, Washington, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020. SEATTLE — Companies are on the hot seat to respond to climate change like never before, but most corporate leaders don't have the tools necessary to meet those pledges, said Microsoft President Brad Smith last week at the inaugural Breakthrough Energy Summit in Seattle. "By our count, 3,470 companies around the world have signed up for a climate pledge," said Smith. That stage of the industry, often called carbon accounting, is also "in this incredibly nascent stage," Smith said, and companies don't have enough workers with the right skillsets to help accelerate their progress, Smith noted. As the industry matures, tools will emerge to help with tracking, but with so much uncertainty today, some companies avoid making climate pledges at all, according to Greg Guyett, co-CEO of global banking and markets at HSBC.

☆ This startup helps Microsoft and P&G make their products more sustainable. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck Makersite used to raise $17.5 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A startup that helps companies build more sustainable products just raised $17.5 million. We got an exclusive look at the 14-slide pitch deck it used to raise the Series A round. A German startup that enables companies to assess the sustainability of their products before going to market just landed 18 million euros (around $17.5 million) in its first institutional raise. Makersite uses AI to create software-based replicas of product designs using technology known as digital twins. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck Makersite used to raise the fresh funds below.

☆ This startup could become the Google Analytics of carbon accounting. Here's the 13-slide pitch deck Climatiq used to raise $5.8 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Climate tech startup Climatiq has raised 6 million euros (around $5.8 million) in a seed round. VC firm Singular led the round into the carbon API startup with Cherry Ventures also participating. Companies can also import their own carbon emissions data to provide a more accurate estimate of their impact. Some consumer-focused tools already embed emissions data. Emissions data is already shown on travel sites like Google Flights.

☆ Carbon accounting startup Emitwise becomes latest climate tech startup to lay off staff as red hot sector jostles with economic downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Layoffs have hit the red-hot climate tech sector as it jostles with the economic downturn. Carbon accounting startup Emitwise has become the latest climate tech startup to lay off staff as the industry jostles with the economic downturn, Insider understands. Climate tech is wide-ranging, encapsulating everything from research and development-heavy batteries to carbon accounting SaaS tools. The energy crisis has been a boon for home energy startups working on rooftop solar, heat pumps, and smart thermostats. At One Ventures' Lin added that in moments of economic difficulty "sometimes the most interesting innovations are born."

☆ Inside Salesforce's ambitious new plan to propel the carbon-credit market to critical mass and make a dent in the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Big companies are rushing to buy carbon credits to meet net-zero emission goals. Companies like Delta Air Lines, Alphabet, and Disney have been buying carbon credits to meet net-zero emission goals. Unlike the carbon-credit market regulated by the government, the voluntary market allows companies to opt in, purchasing credits to fund sustainability projects in exchange for the right to emit more carbon. But companies are often skeptical about the efficacy of carbon credits because it's not always clear where the funds go. It also worked with carbon-credit providers such as Climate Impact Partners, Cloverly, and Pachama to vet carbon-reduction projects for quality.

☆ Inside Salesforce's ambitious new plan to propel the carbon credit market to critical mass and make a dent in the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Big companies are rushing to buy carbon credits to meet net-zero emission goals. Companies like Delta Air Lines, tech conglomerate Alphabet, and entertainment firm Disney are rushing to buy carbon credits to meet net-zero emission goals. Unlike the carbon credit market regulated by the government, organizations that opt into the voluntary market can choose to emit more carbon by purchasing credits toward sustainability projects. But companies are often skeptical about the efficacy of carbon credits because it's not always clear where the funds go. It also worked with carbon credit providers such as Climate Impact Partners, Cloverly, and Pachama to vet carbon reduction projects for quality.

☆ Why tech workers are quitting great jobs at companies like Google to fight climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-26 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

"What bigger problem is there to solve for our generation than climate change?" Not only is climate change an existential-level threat to humanity, it is especially dangerous for the poorest communities around the world. "Eventually, it just got to the point where I couldn't justify to myself why I'm still doing something that isn't climate," Kirpichov told CNBC. "It turns out that there are just so many people who are in the same boat," Kirpichov told CNBC. We know Southeast Asia is going to get hit really hard with climate change.

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