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Oxford’s Climate Tech Opportunity Report with Jamil Wyne, Ep #84

Addressing climate change requires significant investment, with estimates suggesting over $10 trillion annually for decades, yet current spending remains far below this target. Oxford's Climate Tech Initiative provides a nuanced breakdown of climate finance, based on insights from nearly 150 experts, identifying gaps, opportunities, and recommendations for improving climate finance. An interview with one of the report's authors, Jamil Wyne, offers a comprehensive exploration of these findings, providing a global perspective and actionable insights for addressing the challenges of climate change financing.

Date: 03/12/2024
Guest:

Jamil Wyne

About episode

We know that addressing climate change will take trillions of dollars of investment. According to the Climate Policy Institute, we’ll need to spend over $10 trillion annually for decades. and we only just exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in 2022.

I’ll confess, I find these big numbers hard to conceptualize and I’m always glad for more nuanced ways to break them down. That’s why when I saw Oxford’s Climate Tech Initiative’s recent report, I reached out to one of its authors Jamil Wyne. The Oxford report builds on recent climate finance data by asking almost 150 climate investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers what they’re seeing. It’s a snapshot from inside climate tech that identifies gaps, promising opportunities, and five recommended changes for climate finance. In this interview, Jamil and I cover all that and more. We go far beyond just talking about the numbers and I think you’ll appreciate the global perspective and ability to zoom in and out that Jamil and the Oxford report brings. Enjoy.

In today’s episode, we cover:

  • [01:15] Introduction to the Oxford Climate Tech Initiative’s report & Jamil
  • [02:31] Jamil’s portfolio & what’s been energizing
  • [04:19] How Climate Tech Initiative’s report got started
  • [06:20] Growth & breakdown of climate finance investments
  • [10:02] The mismatch in climate investing
  • [12:43] Investor interest in transportation
  • [15:20] Under investment in heavy industry, built environment & adaptation
  • [17:41] The best investment opportunities within the energy sector
  • [20:39] Overview of recommendations from the report
  • [22:31] Growing climate funding recommendation
  • [23:06] The role of governments & corporations
  • [25:27] Building talent & workforce pools for climate
  • [28:27] Focusing on solutions for vulnerable communities
  • [30:30] Funding for adaptation
  • [33:20] What is Riffle Ventures
  • [36:08] Climate Tech Boot Camp, who it’s for & how it’s changed
  • [41:27] Future projects & initiatives

How Climate Tech Initiative’s report got started

Jamil’s colleagues at Syed Business School, who shared his interest in climate technology, played a crucial role in initiating the Oxford Climate Tech Initiative’s report. The team recognized the importance of addressing overlooked aspects of climate technology implementation and funding, particularly the disproportionate focus on the US, EU, and China. They acknowledged that many countries, despite being minor contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, were highly vulnerable to climate impacts. This led them to broaden their perspective to include voices and concerns from these “non-usual suspects” in the discourse on climate tech initiatives. Their motivation was twofold: to gain a better understanding of global perspectives and to provide clarity on the future trajectory of the field. The report aimed to combine traditional market intelligence with in-depth analyses of underrepresented topics such as adaptation and support for vulnerable populations, offering a more comprehensive view of the climate tech landscape.

Growth & breakdown of climate finance investments

Jamil discussed the complexity of assessing the state of climate tech investing, relying on data from PWC and Climate Policy Initiative (CPI). He highlighted the significant growth in venture capital (VC) funding over the past decade, with over $100 billion invested in climate tech and involvement from approximately 6,000 unique investors and over 3,000 individual investments. While VC funding has primarily targeted sectors like transportation and energy, other significant emitters such as agriculture and heavy industry have not received comparable funding attention yet.

Expanding the perspective to include other forms of funding, such as debt and grants, reveals a broader involvement, often with more public sector participation. According to CPI, global climate finance exceeded $1 trillion for the first time, with around half of the funding coming from governments and the remainder from the private sector, predominantly in the form of debt. However, this funding is geographically concentrated in regions like the US, EU, China, and to a lesser extent, India.

Jamil noted the geographical limitations inherent in climate VC, as funds tend to invest within their domiciled regions. In contrast, climate finance demonstrates broader reach, albeit with remaining disparities in funding distribution across regions and sectors. This complexity underscores the challenge of disentangling the various forms of climate investment, which share some trends but diverge in others.

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Jamil Wyne

  • Connect with Jamil on LinkedIn

Connect with Jason Rissman

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