Carbon Clean joins launch of Cleantech for UK

Carbon Clean has joined other leading cleantech scale-ups, accelerators and investors in the UK to mark the launch of Cleantech for UK. This new initiative is supported by Breakthrough Energy and organised by Cleantech Group. The initiative aims to pave the way for a new generation of global cleantech champions. 

The participants were joined by Bill Gates and UK PM Rishi Sunak for the launch event at Imperial College London, where they discussed how to create the next generation of global cleantech champions in the UK. 

Ann Mettler, Vice President for Europe at Breakthrough Energy, said:

“The UK has all the ingredients to become a major player in the global push to build our net zero emissions future, including world-class research facilities and forward-looking investors. I am confident that the Cleantech for UK coalition will become a key bridge between cleantech investors, innovators and policymakers.”

UK cleantech venture capital investment was £3.2 billion in 2022, equalling the record-breaking amounts of 2021. This is especially remarkable in a cooling global venture capital climate. But as other countries enact increasingly ambitious climate packages such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the USA, and the Net Zero Industry Act in the EU, the UK must go further and faster to maintain competitiveness. The UK would have to spend a total of £36bn to reach the GDP equivalent of the IRA.

Aniruddha Sharma, Chair and CEO of Carbon Clean, added:

“As a carbon capture solutions company headquartered in the UK since 2012, we know that the UK is uniquely placed to be a global leader in the fast-expanding carbon capture, utilisation and storage market. But it’s vital that the government acts quickly to foster certainty and attract the investment that we need.

The market is ready to move provided the right policy framework is in place. The IRA has shown that it’s possible to have smart policies that create a highly attractive investment environment, drawing in huge amounts of private funding. This will be crucial if we are to pick up the pace of decarbonisation through carbon capture.”

Cleantech for UK’s objective is to supercharge UK cleantech innovation. The UK is home to excellent scientific research and a thriving innovation scene. But this world-leading capability is not consistently translated into world-leading cleantech scale-ups.

Richard Youngman, CEO, Cleantech, said:

“To secure the enormous benefits on offer to those brave enough to lead the transformation of our industrialised economies to cleaner, decarbonised and resource-efficient versions of themselves will require innovation in all facets.

“Yes, technological, but equally in financial instruments and in policymaking. I believe a period of intense dialogue, experimentation and hyper-collaboration is needed for the UK to deliver on its net zero goals, its economic growth ambitions, and its national security.”

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