Nature based solutions and their success in Climate Tech

Abstract

Since the start of the industrial revolution, anthropogenic activities have increased the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, leading to catastrophic changes to Earth’s ecosystem and human lives. In order to stop further climatic damage, humans need to drastically stop emitting CO2 into the atmosphere by decarbonizing all industries. Decarbonization however is not enough to keep the Earth’s temperature below 1.5°C and we additionally also need negative emissions technologies to store carbon for millennials. The scale of changing conventional, heavy emitting technologies across all sectors is massive and needs rapid and cost-effective deployment. To ensure that the next generation of technological innovations are going to be truly carbon free and don’t have overlooked negative effects to our climate, we need better models to draw inspiration from. In this report, I propose that nature as a model for new technologies is an effective tool for negative emissions technologies. Next to that, we explore the impact venture capital has on the deployment of new technologies within the climate deep-tech space. Ultimately, this report is a setting ground for how we need to perceive the next wave of technologies aimed at decarbonizing all industrial sectors.