Financing Innovative Green Technology for a Climate-Neutral World

Green-tech businesses utilize technology to mitigate, adapt, and reverse the effects of human activities on the environment. These businesses are instituted for sustainability-related purposes such as reducing Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and pollution, cutting down on waste, and protecting the world’s ecological systems.

The concept of climate neutrality aims at bridging the gap between the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released into the atmosphere and the emissions removed from the atmosphere, in order to attain a net-zero position.

It is for this reason, the European Union (EU)’s climate-neutral “Innovation Fund” has been established. The goal of the Innovation Fund is to foster clean innovative technologies that reduce emissions and boost creativity. Examples of such technologies include; the development of rooftop solar panels, solar water heating, small-scale wind generation plants, fuel cells powered by natural gas, renewable hydrogen, and geothermal energy projects.

In essence, the Fund assists in creating the requisite financial incentives for green projects by empowering companies to become global technology leaders and supporting innovative low-carbon technologies in all member states to increase market reach. The Innovation Fund also targets exceptionally creative technologies and massive flagship projects that promote significant emission reductions. The EU has appropriated an amount of € 10 billion into the Innovation Fund to aid member states in incorporating a robust climate-neutral strategy.

The disbursement of the Fund gives preference to projects relating to renewable energy, Carbon Capture Use and Storage (CCUS), energy-intensive industries, and energy storage. Additionally, it considers the entity’s degree of GHG emission avoidance, innovation, project viability and maturity, scalability, and cost efficiency.

Similar to the EU’s Innovation Fund, there are other green fund initiatives across the globe. It is therefore imperative for developing countries to allocate resources to tackle the climate change menace through innovative technologies.