Ahead of COP26, PLANETech听鈥� a joint initiative of Vincent Tchenguiz鈥檚 Consensus Business Group and the Israel Innovation Institute 鈥� has published a landmark climate report in collaboration with Israeli government agency, the Israel Innovation Authority.听听
The report, entitled 鈥�Israel鈥檚 State of Climate Tech 2021鈥�, marks the first time Israel鈥檚 growing climate tech landscape has been mapped 鈥� and reveals the country鈥檚 current and future potential to contribute to addressing global challenges caused by the climate crisis.听
Commenting on the report,听Vincent Tchenguiz, Chairman of Consensus Business Group, said: 鈥淚 am keen to form networks between Israel, the UK and the rest of the world to create opportunities for knowledge sharing, funding, partnerships and deployment at the scale required to protect our planet. Israel is at the forefront of climate tech innovation and PLANETech is helping promote the next generation of climate technology businesses. Much has been published about what is required to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, but what is certain is the need for wider collaboration. There are many R&D centres of Fortune 500 enterprises in Israel, which are aiming to utilise technology to lower their emissions and reach net zero targets. I hope that this report provides insight for other nations seeking to develop their own climate tech sector.鈥�
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Key Findings:
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- Around听10% of high-tech start-ups听founded in Israel in 2020 operate in the climate tech sector
- The country is rapidly becoming a听world leader听in precision agriculture, lab-grown meat, irrigation systems, water desalination and other climate technologies
- There are听1,200 start-up听and growth companies in Israel developing climate technologies in the following five challenge areas:听Climate Smart Agriculture, Clean Energy Systems, Sustainable Mobility & Transport, Eco-Efficient Water Infrastructure, and Alternative Proteins
- The majority of these innovative companies are听less than seven years old听and the fastest growing start-ups operate in the fields of Alternative Proteins and Green Construction
- Locally developed and adopted technologies are already responsible for听emission reductions around the world听which may be听greater than the emissions Israel itself generates
- Broad deployment of existing technologies, as well as scale up and adoption of early stage technologies, have the potential to听reduce global emissions by about two thirds
- Climate tech start-ups in Israel have attracted a听total of USD 2.97 billion of investment听between 2018 and 2020
- Total investments听in the first half of 2021 amounted to听nearly 40 percent more听than total investments in the three previous years
- However, the main challenge for the start-ups鈥� growth is听access to capital, regulatory hurdles, and the听difficulties of market scale up opportunities听鈥�听most of the largest global climate tech funds do not invest in Israel
- A comparison between the success rate for Israeli green deal submissions with that for all Horizon programs indicates that Israel is听far from realising its global potential in Europe鈥檚 largest climate funding programme
- There is an increasing commitment from听government regulators听to听engage the varied stakeholders in the ecosystem听and show leadership by adopting an overall vision for a听carbon neutral Israel
- A strong听governmental mindset and leadership听are instrumental in creating strong momentum and transforming Israel into a global leader in climate tech innovation
- Israel鈥檚 success听driven start-up and growing companies, ground-breaking听academic research, knowledge and expertise of R&D centres, and the umbrella of a听supporting government, are contributing to the country鈥檚 position as a听global tech powerhouse
- Israeli technology has historically been key in听addressing a variety of global challenges
- For example,听Israeli cyber security companies听are at the forefront of companies听fighting cyber terrors听around the world
- 41% of global cyber funding听is invested in Israeli companies and听one in every three cyber unicorns听in the world is Israeli
- There is a unique opportunity for the听7,000 existing start-ups, specifically in the AI industry to pivot into solving global climate change challenges
