NB117: On water, resilience and death of climate tech

Hello there! Welcome to the NatureBacked newsletter, we hope it finds you full of love after the Valentine’s weekend!

In last week’s podcast episode,?Tarmo spoke with Alix Lebec about sustainable investments and the role of private investments in water infrastructure. Some of the key takeaways:

?? Climate resilience is crucial as water demand will exceed supply soon.

?? Integrating climate risk into asset valuations can change investment dynamics.

?? Insurance companies are the ones who reflect the actual costs of climate risks.

Without further delay, take a listen to the full episode on your podcast player.?

What’s in the news

The UN date of 10 Feb for countries to hand in their new climate target has been and gone, again with a ‘no worries if not’ caveat. Only ten managed to stick to the deadline, the US being one, which seems redundant with the MIP (men in power) signing their autograph on anything they like (or don’t) these days, the withdrawal from the Paris agreement being one. Anyway, let’s not digress… The Journal has the Irish angle.

Manage to follow any of The AI Summit news without reporters constantly asking if one of those MIPs was going to buy Open AI? Yep, it was hard to listen to but here are a few of the AI leaders' takeaways from the Paris event. And why do we care about AI? Well, because the planet is on fire and the world and their aunt are developing some kind of AI to do stuff, that probably doesn’t in fact need to be automated… Salesforce has launched the AI Energy Score to track AI impact.?

Feels like several thousand years ago at this stage but … remember the Paris Olympics? Well, the 2024 summer games had a more than 50% smaller carbon footprint than the London 2012 and Rio 2016 summer games. Now, the Wi-Fi terminals used for the games are being repurposed to be used by La Poste, France’s national postal service. Read this positive story here.?

The north pole has not been so cold of late, it's been recording temperatures about average, said the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The Guardian has more on the Arctic’s extreme weather event.?

A study out of Colorado State University shows how African farmers are adapting to climate change in mountainous regions. However, access to credit, technical skills, and markets would still improve their situation.?

Climate tech is dead?

"That's wrong and has never been more wrong. Those people not only overlook that the climate crisis is accelerating, which increases the urgent need for climate solutions," writes World Bank's Danijel Vi?evi?.

Over the last months, World Fund joined forces with Kaya Partners and Worthwhile Capital Partners to put together the report "The Importance of Climate Tech for European Resilience".

“We have pinpointed four critical sectors: energy, food systems and land use, frontier technologies, and raw materials. Each represents a vital pillar of European security and its green transition.”

A lot of helpful stuff for founders and investors in the white paper.

Impact jobs

There are a couple of opportunities at Opportunity Green . They are looking for a Finance Manager and a Philanthropy Manager. Check out the vacancies here!

Impact events?

Ok, as part of Iceland’s Innovation Week (12-16 May) the climate conference has announced its theme for this year. ‘This year, we step into the laboratory of climate action to investigate the science, technology, and innovations driving solutions to the climate crisis.’ Time to get your tickets! Check out festival passes here.?

More news

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